The Tale of Day and Night
by depressedchildren
Summary: It was the battle that would free him, but when was anything straightforward with the dobe; yet he would not change what happened for anything. When the little man said he was to protect Nature's daughter, Sasuke never expected to finally have the children he had dreamed of as a genin. But now he finds them being taken from his grasp by the struggles of men against the Eye in East.
1. Chapter 1:A Family Man

_**Disclaimer:**_I do not own either works, nor do I profit from posting this but in terms of writing experience. The characters and plot belong to their respective creators and companies.

_**Full Summary:**_ It was to be the final showdown, the battle that would free him from his blonde shadow. But when was anything straightforward with the dobe; yet he would not change what happened for anything in the world. When that cheerful little man said he was to meant to protect and marry Nature's daughter (as he did with Goldberry), Sasuke never expected to finally have the family, the _children_, he had dreamed of as a genin. But now he finds his family being taken from his grasp as they are pulled into the struggles of the free peoples against the Power in the East. _**WARNINGS:**_ amnesia, OC's, character death (not a likable character), gender-bending.

**A/N:**I was inspired by primarily two stories, but only in how the situation came to be. I'm experimenting a little in the writing, but if the first part is obnoxious, feel free to skip down; I'm not a fan of abstract things but it felt appropriate to begin the story this way. This will also go in a very different direction than other LOTR-Naruto cross-overs. So I hope you all will give it a chance and enjoy it. Thank you ~ depresedchildren

**Key: **

"Words" westron

"_Words"_ another language being spoken (i.e. sidarian or Japanese)

_Kusnagi_ a sign or title (i.e. _Prancing Pony_).

* * *

Chapitre 1

* * *

Electricity

Yellow eyes - rectangular slits

Portal – widening

Yelling

Electricity

Birds - chirping

Metal - clashing

Natural energy

Portal – SPREADING

Electricity - out of control

SCREAMS

PAIN

Copper – filling mouth

YELLING

Portal - consuming, CLOSING … nothing

The clatter of steel against a stone floor filled the air followed by the dull thud of an iron hammer and prongs.

"_D__û__?"_ the feminine voice drifted through the heavy air toward him. He stayed in his place, where he stared forward into the furnace as he tried to compose himself.

"_Love, is something wrong?" _he bowed his head and closed eyes slowly as if to block out the voice which he now knew was speaking in Japanese, their native language. But the woman called to him again, _"D__û__? Why aren't you answering me?"_ A creak and a rustling of cloth came from the room behind him. _"D__û__!?"_ the woman was panicking and he could hear her faint steps approaching the door which sealed the smith off from the rest of their home.

"_Arad,"_ his voice came out rough and thick. He coughed in an attempt to clear away such tones. _"I'm fine,"_ his voice was still thick.

He looked over his shoulder at the closed door. The light behind it was blocked partly by the woman behind it. He heard the light thud of the wooden door tapping the jamb when the woman set her hand against the door. He could see her in his mind's eye. She would be frowning, and a determined set would be in her yellow eyes.

"_The smoke is bad for the baby,"_ he stated, and for once his voice was neutral and smooth. He tilted his head back and licked his lips. He could imagine her frown turning into a pout as she glared at the door with her arms folded over her protruding stomach.

"_D__û__?"_ the woman almost whined; she clearly would not give up.

"_I overheated,"_ he called to the still closed door. _"I just need to get some air," _he stated as he heard a sigh.

"_If you say so..."_ he could imagine her glaring harder at the door, but it would be endearing not withering and her brow would scrunch from her attempt. _"Will you take _Dawn_ with you?"_ she asked, _"She just woke from her nap."_

He dropped his head and closed his eyes tighter, but he straightened and forced his expression into neutrality. He picked up the fallen hammer and used the prongs to pick up the sword lest it still be too hot to touch. _Kusanagi_. He remade the chokutō he had used in what now seemed like another life.

For months he felt drawn to creating a sword, straight like the swords he forged for the "guards" of this town, but his sword was too thin and sharp to be a long sword. It was like when he had made the kunai and throwing stars which were now scattered around the smith. He did not know what he was doing, or why he was doing it but something in his subconscious told him to make these weapons and told him they were familiar. In deed he knew how to use all of them with an ease he had first found alarming. But now all made sense.

He set the chokutō on the anvil and set the forging hammer beside it. He closed his eyes briefly before he spun around and headed toward the door. He knew she would not be patient and if he did not leave soon, she would risk their unborn child to the harmful fumes from the furnace.

He opened the door and slipped into the rest of the house. She was standing beside the door and as he moved past her toward the stairs, he felt her hand on his soot covered bicep. The gentle yet unrelenting pull forced him to face her. He felt his stomach clench when he looked down onto her sharp yet rounded features. Her wide yellow eyes searched his expression and her other hand came to rest on his chest.

He froze at the connection and he felt his heart beat pick up pace, but his face gave nothing away. As she held him longer he began to force his sight to go out of focus by looking at the dust motes drifting between them.

"_D__û__…"_ she whispered before she sighed and dropped her head. When she brought it back up she pressed her lips together in displeasure as she "glared" at him with her hands crossed under her bust.

"_Go clean up,"_ she ordered as she began to waddle away, _"I'll get _Dawn _ready,"_ she waved her hand almost dismissively.

He sagged when her back turned from him but he hurried up the stairs to their room and arrived at a water basin. He began scrubbing away as much soot as he could from his arms before he worked on his neck and face. By the time he was finished the water in the basin was the color of pitch. He opened the window in the room and dumped the soiled water before he cleaned out the basin with a rag. He quickly changed into a tunic and rough-spun breeches.

When he came to the foot of the stairs he was met by the sight of his wife wrapping their little girl in a cloak. She was kneeling and her large belly stretched the fabric of her rough-spun dress so that he could see every curve. Dawn's pudgy arms and legs moved about as the woman tried to pin the wool cloak around the squirming child. She was still in her sleeping gown but she now had wool stockings covering her feet.

A smile came unbidden to his face. He caught his wife's eyes when she glanced up from her task, and she gave him a pleased smile in return. He stiffened minutely but quickly spurred himself to action. He grabbed his own cloak from its hook near the door which led out to the main road.

"Dawn," he called the girl softly by her westron name. She now had her cloak fastened in place. She turned around and made a pleased noise, almost like a squeal. Her smile was still gummy despite teeth popping up here and there. He felt a smile turn up the corner of his lips again. He knelt down by the door as his wife helped their daughter to her feet. The little girl then began to waddle toward her father who had his arms out in front of him. She gave a gleeful laugh and ran on her wobbly legs toward him.

He scooped her up and into his arms once she reached him. He then stood up with the girl giggling into his ear. He quickly slipped his feet into his boots and gave a nod to the woman who now sat in a rocking chair next to the fireplace sharpening a kunai. She was smiling as she ran the wet stone against one of the sharp edges and watched the two exit the house and onto the muddy main street.

He paused once he heard the door close and took a deep breath of the crisp autumn air. He waited for a horse drawn cart to pass him before he continued down the main street. It was unpaved with deep ruts from carts passing through the town. He nodded to the hobbits and men alike who greeted him, and Dawn pointed at everything around and asked in her inarticulate way what things were.

He felt his mouth twitch up at the corner as he grabbed her hand from where it was in front of his face. He chuckled at her antics and nudged her check with his nose before he kissed her on the forehead. She had ducked at the nudge and now wrapped her arms around her father's neck. She was twenty months old and if all went well, she would be twenty-three months older than her sibling.

It would be her last sibling if he had any say in the matter, which he did, because his wife would never be unfaithful to him. He now found himself at the gates of the village and just beyond the wooden structure was the Greenway. With a sigh he turned around.

He had hoped the walk would give him time to process things but that did not seem to be the case. Usually time alone let him think, but now all he could think of was how betrayed his wife would feel someday, when she too regained her memories. It made his skin crawl and his stomach flutter in unease.

Part of him wanted to run away, but when he heard his little girl laugh it stopped him. When he looked down upon her angelic face he felt any resolve melt. She had him wrapped around her little finger and she wasn't even conscious of it.

Her cherub face smiled that gummy smile that made him swear off all his past ambitions and made him want to start anew. Her hair was a slate color, much like his brother's had been. Her eyes were so dark her pupils blended into her irises just like her father. Her complexion was several shades darker than his and her eyes were much wider and more expressive than his.

How could he – _they –_ have created this perfect and beautiful creature. How could he have produced something so pure and wonderful when blood covered his hands and his past crimes spanned at least a league? He thought he had given up on his dream of restoring his clan, but when he looked at her he felt such a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment. He could burst with happiness - as impossible the notion seemed when he considered all the woe that had colored his life.

His feet carried him back to his house. He opened the door and once inside he proceeded to remove his shoes.

"Welcome," his wife paused in her westron greeting for she finally looked up and saw her husband in the doorway. She was manning their shop since she could not forge in her condition.

"_Love,"_ she greeted again in their native tongue. She set down her sharpening tools. _"How was the walk?"_ she struggled to her feet, one hand braced her lower back. Once she was upright she gazed at her husband who had moved farther into their home and was removing the cloak from around their daughter so that she would not overheat.

"_You seem more troubled,"_ she stated bluntly with her brow scrunched up and a frown marring her features. Her words caused him to pause for a moment in his actions, but it was not very noticeable since Dawn was squirming and made it difficult to unfasten the cloak.

"_What makes you say that?"_ he asked casually while he continued to work at removing his daughter's cloak.

She scoffed and moved toward the counter which held some of their wares. _"Oh I don't know," _she started and rolled her eyes, _"perhaps the fact that you're acting more…wall-ish than usual,"_ she spun around and glared at him with her peculiar eyes. When they had customers she used what he now knew was an illusion to make them appear less…toad like.

He couldn't stare at her anymore, not when he knew the truth of everything.

"_Arad, I'm tired, that's all," _he sighed when he heard her humph. He looked down at his little girl and ruffled her hair. She was quiet as she looked up at her parents; it was as if she knew something was off as well. He gave a small smile and placed a kiss on her forehead. She smiled in turn.

He then stood up and began his way toward the forge.

"_I thought you said you were tired?" _there was an almost deadly edge to her words and he could see her in his mind's eye with her lips pulled back in a snarl while her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

He continued moving despite her words.

"_So you're going back in there!?" _she asked indignantly and he could imagine she threw her arms to either side of her in exasperation as she did her best to glare at him, but her face would be too red and her face was not meant for glaring.

He paused with his hand resting against the door, _"Arad, we are behind in work and I will not risk your health or our child's health. I have ten more shoes to make with nails and a new iron crossing for the town gate. I will rest when I am finished with that," _in his mind's eye he could see the glare remaining on her face but her shoulders would lower and her body would relax.

"_So be it."_

He closed the door behind him and began working to get the furnace back up to its proper heat. He quickly shed his tunic and threw on one of the spare smith-aprons. Before long he had his chokutō hissing in the furnace alongside what would become a horseshoe. He removed his sword and began hammering it into perfection. The now familiar ring of metal on metal comforted him and left his mind in silence, a much needed silence.

* * *

A suivre

* * *

**A/N:** . So…yes Sasuke is blacksmith, why don't I say his name, because I have not written his real name and he has not thought about. If it is too obnoxious I can easily admen that sooner than I planned to. Also, Sasuke might seem a little OOC, but I have come to the belief that if he was taken away from Konoha and all that had ruined his life, he would be a much better person and he could actually find happiness in life. I also believe that if had a child in such circumstances, it would be precious to him and he would become an even better person.

Aragorn will be coming in next chapter and you will see Sasuke acting more Sasuke like. Eventually Aragorn will not be the LOTR main character but at the beginning he will be and I will be centering some segments from his perspective (not first person though). I will do my best. I love the series but I am only on my third read through and I hate reading the Shire/Rivendel parts (why? I don't know, I'm weird but I also haven't read the Hobbit)


	2. Chapter 2:Tie to a New Life

**Disclaimer:** I do not own either works they belong to their respective creators, producers, designers, writers, etc. The only profit I gain from this is writing experience.

_**Full Summary:**_ It was to be the final showdown, the battle that would free him from his blonde shadow. But when was anything straightforward with the dobe; yet he would not change what happened for anything in the world. When that cheerful little man said he was to meant to protect and marry Nature's daughter (as he did with Goldberry), Sasuke never expected to finally have the family, the _children_, he had dreamed of as a genin. But now he finds his family being taken from his grasp as they are pulled into the struggles of the free peoples against the Power in the East. _**WARNINGS:**_ amnesia, OC's, character death (not a likable character), gender-bending.

**Warnings for this Chapter:**vague description of child birth.

**A/N: **As the warning above implies, as well as the title for the chapter, Sasuke's second baby's born! So...I have never had a baby thus it's not terribly realistic, but I figure since there aren't as many preservatives and the food is all natural during this time, that the labor would be easier than it might be in today's society, also...suspension of disbelief...? Please forgive my ineptitude at capturing one of the most painful experiences a human can endure and my lack of medical know how. Anyways, please enjoy and thank you to those who clicked favorite, alert, and reviewed! ~ depresedchildren

**Key: **

"Words" westron

"_Words"_ another language being spoken (i.e. sidarian or Japanese)

_Kusnagi_ a sign or title (i.e. _Prancing Pony_).

* * *

Chapitre Deux

* * *

The following months he submerged himself in work in the forge, if he caught up with his work he lied and said he had a little more to complete - which translated into him sharpening his _Kusanagi_. When an errand needed to be done and his wife was too tired, he would take Dawn with him and complete the task, or if the little girl was too much for her mother he would take her into the forge and show her the different weapons as well as teach her more westron and Japanese.

It was while he was sharpening his chokutō that the smith door opened and a tall grim looking man was shown into his forge. "Through here sir," his wife stated, "My husband _D__û_ will help you." The door then closed behind them.

"_D__û_?" the man questioned, one of his elegant eyebrows was raised, "That is elvish," the man mused as he moved further into the smith. "Why does a human have a Sidarin name?" he questioned once he was in front of the Smith who was still methodically sharpening his sword.

"Hn."

He was not sure how he felt about this traveler. He eyed the man as he stood in front of him. The man was tall and lean. His eyes were grey and hard yet they held kindness and warmness in them. He also seemed highly intelligent, proud, and calculating, but then again, he could have misread the gleam in the traveler's eyes. Those grey eyes were also hard, as if the traveler had seen many battles and lived in some type of sorrow or guilt. It seemed like the traveler bore some weight upon his shoulders, but he still held himself up straight and tall.

The traveler's appearance was rough, he supposed, but that should be expected from a traveler. The man's leathers were worn, cracked in places, and caked with dirt. He wore a dark green wool cloak, equally dirty as his leathers, but the clasps were sliver and had an elvish design if the smith discerned it correctly. The traveler also wore white gold or silver ring upon his index finger that had the design of two snake, one eating the tail and the other wreathed by flower petals. The ring was finely crafted, and spoke of some family wealthy or nobility. He also wore a deep green stone, that shone like a jewel, around his neck.

But what stuck out most was his presence or even aura. Pride, honor, honesty, loyalty, bravery; these were a few of the adjectives he picked off of the man's presence. Something about him, despite his rugged and rather foul appearance, made the smith trust the traveler almost instantly. It was strange and completely unwanted. But he was almost reminded of his brother as he regarded the solemn, proud man. He knew he was also being judged by the man, that the traveler was deciding if he should trust this smith with his weapons.

"Perhaps I should be told your name before I explain mine's origin?" he asked after a pause where they both seized each other up, however during this pause the man seemed to be laughing with his eyes. It gave the impression that the man knew something he did not or perhaps thought of him as a young child whose behavior he found endearing. Again, he was reminded of his brother for a painful, cruel moment.

"I am called Strider by the Bree-folk," when Strider received a blank stare in response he smiled slightly and inclined his head, "I do not mind the name and I am not partial to giving out my real name."

"Hn," he gestured to a stool sitting opposite the furnace and motioned for him to bring it closer to where he sat sharpening his chokutō. "Then I will not tell you why my wife and I have elvish names."

Once Strider was seated, he set aside _Kusanagi_ and nodded for the traveler to explain what he wished forged.

"You have many weapons I have never seen before," Strider commented, his eyes were locked onto a shuriken in the corner.

"Hn,"

Strider smiled marginally as he withdrew a long sword from one of his two scabbards. Immediately, black eyes narrowed in on the small fissure in the middle of the blade and then the many nicks running along the length of the blade. The blade its self was clean and well cared for but it had seen many battles and thus bore those scars.

He reached out his hand to have the sword set in his hands. He noted Strider was watching him closely. He felt that the traveler was judging his worth as well as whether he should trust the smith.

"I'll do what I can," he stated after he completed his inspection.

Strider nodded but did not get up to leave yet, "I saw the town's guards had new swords, did you make them?" black eyes flitted up from the sword in his hand to regard the man across from him, he gave a stiff nod and Strider nodded in return, "You are very skilled. Have you considered relocating to another town that might be more in need of your skill?"

"We enjoy Bree," he stated as he stood up to begin repairing the man's sword. It was clear that the man would wait until he was finished with his sword, and that the man would watch what he did. It was infuriating and reminded him all the more of his brother, he internally shook himself.

His brother was dead, had died twice. He was simply desperate for that not to be the case and saw Itachi in everyone…Itachi. _I miss you brother._ Most of his thoughts were in westron but that single Japanese sentence ran through is mind over and over, and sounded like the call of a little lost child, which perhaps he was? His blood boiled when he thought of all of the lies and what his brother had been forced to do, and in a type of self-preservation he made himself stop thinking of Konoha and the ninja world that set him against his brother, made him kill his only kin.

So with effort he stopped thinking of those things, or that world. Instead, the thought of his little Dawn: his beautiful, wonderful little girl. He thought of his client and what the man wanted done. However, he did not try to compare the man's infuriatingly calm demeanor and clear, knowing amusement to his brother. He also ignored that he felt he could trust this stranger, so much he hardly thought much of showing his back to the traveler. He was Uchiha Sasuke, he did not trust people right off the bat - that was the dobe's habit.

Strider made himself comfortable farther away from the furnace and lit his pipe. The part of Sasuke that remembered medical training from Kabuto – that slimy bastard – wanted to yell at the man to put the damn thing out, but he refrained. It would seem hypocritical to someone who did not know about the harmful effects of smoking when they were in a soot filled room with furnace smoke filling the air despite the open slats in the exterior walls to take out the smoke.

"That is a very interesting sword you were sharpening," the man commented again in an attempt to create a conversation while he waited for his sword.

"Hn" Sasuke could practically feel Strider's eyes boring holes into his back, sighing he decided to elaborate, "it is not a style from these lands, unlike how these swords bludgeon an opponent to death, this will cut through bone with enough momentum," he jerked his head toward the chokutō now gleaming in the corner as it reflected the light from the furnace.

"Does it have a name then?"

"_Kusanagi"_ he whispered as he glared at the heart of the furnace. Would his sword trigger his spouse's memories like it had for him? What would happen when she did regain her memories? He shuddered to think.

"Hmm…" Strider seemed to want to say something more but he was holding back. "That sounds like no language of middle earth."

Sasuke glared harder into the fire, "My wife is a better communicator, you might favor her company more than mine," the sword was ready to be pulled from the fire and hammered to perfection. The hairline cracks seemed almost more noticeable while the jagged edges became accentuated by the weapon's red-hot glow.

"It is not often that I find myself in the company of a master swordsman, especially one which uses a different style than I," Strider leaned forward as he said this; his gray eyes were set on the red-hot sword.

"And what" his hammer fell and sparks flew, "makes you" he struck the sword again, "believe that?" Sasuke questioned as he continued to hammer the blade to eliminate the imperfections.

"The nicks and callouses on your hands, and the methodic manner you cleaned and sharpened the sword."

"That is part of my trade," he stated as his hammer rang again.

Strider was smiling at him. "It is also how you hold yourself. I can tell you and your wife are warriors, but also that you are a swordsman and she is not. Though I am curious what culture you come from that allows a woman to fight, I believe the Rohirrim once taught their women to wield swords but neither of you have their accent," the hammer fell with more force than he had meant to and he set it aside to calm himself down.

"Where we come from is none of your concern," Sasuke stated as he looked at the traveler over his shoulder. He turned back to his work and amended his mistake as he continued to speak. "We woke *clang* up one day *clang* in a forest *clang* with no memories," Sasuke thrust the blade into the barrel of water beside his hammer, it hissed loudly but he continued speaking over the noise as he turned to look at the travel worn stranger, "and we had to make a new life. If our past life comes through in our actions and behaviors, it is unintentional."

Strider stared at him for a moment, "Were you found by elves then?"

He scoffed and turned away from Strider to retrieve the still hot sword. Sasuke set it upon the anvil and hammered at it again, "No. *clang* A jolly little *clang* man with a *clang* yellow hat *clang* named us," again he set the sword into the water and it hissed once more as it continued to disperse its heat into the surrounding water.

He turned around with his arms crossed over his chest to catch the look of surprise which adorned Strider's face. It made him smirk at the other. Sasuke pulled the blade out of the water again, but as he was setting it down he felt a sudden wave of very malicious and familiar chakra.

The sword clattered to the ground as he turned around and raced out of the smith. His wife clutched at her protruding stomach and a fluid was puddled beneath her.

"Strider!" He called the man who had followed him in his rush out of the forge. Strider's eyes widened when he saw the puddle beneath the now in pain woman. "I need to get my wife…" the malicious energy was coiling around the woman Sasuke now held in his arms "Please," he forced the words out as he looked desperately down at his wife. "Watch Dawn and the shop. And I swear," his head snapped back up to fix Strider with a hard glare, "if anything happens to my daughter you will die slowly."

Strider took a step back when he saw the man's eyes flash read as he threatened him. Strider felt suffocated for a moment, as if there was a physical force closing its hand around his throat.

"_D__û!" _ the woman in Sasuke's arms cried, her face was contorted in pain, _"We have to leave the…nng" _he could see she was fighting the entity inside of her, yet he also knew she did not know what she was fighting against.

Sasuke set her down into her chair and hurried to grab what he needed from their room and placed them in a bag: blankets, candles, a bucket of white paint, a canteen of water, and a small kit of medical supplies. He woke his daughter from her nap and picked her up along with one of her toys.

When he ran back down the steps he found Strider kneeling beside his grimacing wife. Strider was holding her hand as she squeezed hard enough to drain the color from the man's fingers. Sasuke quickly grabbed their cloaks from the hook by the door leading to the main street.

"_Arad"_ he called his wife's attention as he moved closer and set his daughter down. She smiled feebly at him and reached out for Sasuke as she continued to fight with the will inside of her who was clawing at the chance to escape. He took over Strider's position and soon could not feel his hand.

"Dawn, this is Strider," Sasuke introduced the stranger to his daughter but his eyes were pulled away as he felt the energy surge inside of his wife. He licked his lips as his pulse quickened, "Your mother is going to give you a little sibling now, but you cannot come with us," he did his best to explain to the little girl. "Strider will watch you while your mother gives you a sibling," Sasuke dared not think of what would happen if they could not contain the entity writhing inside of her. As he had been speaking he managed to fasten the cloaks around them to ward of the early winter bite.

He carefully shifted his wife into his arms so that he was carrying her bridal style. He began to move toward the door but paused and looked at the man seriously whom Sasuke had just met, "I do not know you, but I can tell you are of good character," he glared at the wall behind the man before he refocused on the now alarmed traveler, "If neither of us should come back…" he heard Strider take a deep inhale but he nodded ever so slightly to the words spoken lowly to him. "Find Tom Bombadil or take her wherever you will deem safest for her," without another word Sasuke ran back through the forge to the door at the back of it. He yanked it open and jumped up onto the village wall before he vanished into the woods.

There was always the chance the Kyuubi would break free, even if they were merged or whatever the dobe did with the fox, Kurama, or whatever its name is. There was always the chance that his Sharingan would not be enough to subdue the chakra entity and then he would have to seal the thing into the child his wife…rival died to birth.

"_You can do it dobe,"_ he whispered as the foul chakra roiled inside of the blonde he carried tightly to his chest. This blonde had given him a daughter, the most wonderful and beautiful creature ever created and now made up his whole world. This blonde was suffering through a pain she never should have been able to go through to begin with, at least, until coming here. But in the end she would give him another child to hold dearly and become part of his world.

Sasuke was leagues from the village in a dense forest. He found a large enough clearing and began to form the array he would need to help keep the demon at bay. He watched helpless between the paint drying and his wife/old friend - the thorn that had been in his side since he defected - writhing in agony as she fought against the demon. Perhaps…?

He activated his sharingan and looked into glazed yellow eyes. Sasuke found himself in front of the demon's cage. The monster could barely be contained within its cell.

"_Uchiha"_ it hissed at him and its rage grew. It snapped at the bars of its prison, the seal had changed from the last time he had done this.

He subdued the demon enough to withdraw from the other's mind and continue setting up the sealing array. Sasuke lit the candles where they were needed and then set the calmer blonde in the center of the array where she was wrapped in the cloak.

"_I'm sorry Na- Arad, I can't help you through this, I have to…"_ she grimaced at him but nodded. She seemed much better now that the demon had been forced back. She was laid in the center of the array. The blankets were arranged to catch the child and she was propped against a rock he had moved to be in the middle of the array.

It was several hours until he felt himself beginning to struggle against the demon while he continued to feed his chakra into the seal.

When she went into labor with Dawn it was much the same story as what happened in their home. The demon's energy began to roil inside of her and it was threatening to break free, but her subconscious told her what seal they could use to suppress the demon. Sasuke's subconscious told him what signs to use with the seal and in these last few months Sasuke marveled at what their amnesic states were still able to do. But then, if either one of them had had their memories they would have never been in that or this situation.

She began to push with each contraction, and her breathing became more and more labored. _"Arad, remember to keep breathing,"_ he reminded after a long contraction during which she held her breath and gritted through the pain.

"_Tell me that when __**you**__ have to give birth naturally!"_ she then made a high pitched whine before she went back to her breathing.

Sasuke concentrated on the seal versus the blonde who was now beginning to curse him for putting her into this situation. The words made him flinch, because if the blonde did have her memories she would be cursing him and possibly trying to kill him for what he had done to her.

He began to pant as he struggled to maintain the seal, so that the labor would be easier for the jinchūriki.

The stars and moon now shed light upon them as the two fought against the Kyuubi, while one of them also focused on presenting a new life to the world. After an exceptionally long contraction he could see the baby crowning.

"_Arad, the baby's head is showing!"_

She gave a breathy, joyful laugh at this and continued her struggle.

"_The shoulders are clear, you should be able to" _Sasuke did not finish his sentence as she reached over her stomach to help the child leave her body fully. She smiled briefly before it faltered as another contraction hit her.

He was at a loss as to what to do. The baby had yet to cry and would freeze to death soon, but his wife was still in labor, and the Kyuubi was not relenting in the least.

Licking his lips, he dropped the seal and rushed to retrieve the child who he freed from the umbilical cord. Sasuke summoned a clone who took the baby and made it cry, thus giving it oxygen. He was outside the seal and resumed the array but he had to fight against the demon's malicious will harder than he had before. The clone cleaned and swaddled the baby. It did a brief scan of the newborn child and it seemed healthy.

They then watched for the next hour as the blonde in the middle of the array continued to push through contractions. Sasuke watched as the child began to crown and he informed his wife as he had before, and before long the blonde was able to help coax the child out. Collapsing boneless against the rock behind her, the blonde gave a contented smile. The demon was still prepared to pounce and escape, thus it was up to the blonde to weakly take care of the child she had just brought into the world. It cried and she cleaned it as best as her numb fingers could. Within a few more seconds the baby was swaddled and pressed to her chest with the cloak wrapped around both of them.

"_This one is a girl, and that one?"_ he asked as he looked fondly at the child in his wife's arms.

"_A girl,"_ she stated, _"You're not mad that I continue to give you daughters?"_ she asked softly with a slight frown marring her features. Sasuke doubted, even if she was out of her amnesic state, that she would know anything about genetics and that it was the father that "chose" the sex of the child.

"_You've given me three children; that is more than I had ever hoped to have. I literally could not care less what gender they were,"_ she smiled again and he felt the corners of his mouth lifting as well. _"What will they be named?"_

"_I'm not sure. I'd like to keep _Dusk_ for a boy, and I am not fond of naming one of our children _Twilight_,"_ Sasuke hummed in response to his wife's words, he agreed.

"_Perhaps we will need to come up with a new naming scheme?"_ he offered softly despite knowing these would be their last children.

She hummed and her eyelids fluttered but she fought against her fatigue.

"_Rest,"_ Ssauke stated while he widened his stance and forced more of his chakra into holding back the demon. With a few hours-worth of recovery he could let down the seal and the blonde would be strong enough to hold back the demon.

His teeth chattered as wind from the north tore through the clearing. Sasuke saw his wife become drowsier, and noted that she wrapped the wool cloak more tightly around her and one of their newborns. His clone still held the other newborn and it was cradling the well swaddled the child against its chest.

"_Make a sling and warp the child around me inside of the cloak,"_ he ordered his clone, for Sasuke knew that the enfant would die from cold if it was not next to his heat source. He gritted his teeth again as the demon continued to rage while its host was recovering. _"Make fires too, around me and as close to them as possible," _Sasuke commanded to the clone again. Before long the tasks were accomplished and he released the clone.

With warmth around him and his child wrapped securely to his body heat, he prepared to continue his battle of wills against the Kyuubi.

The moon was beginning to set by the time that he felt the demon's force of attack diminishing. He almost sighed in relief, but he did not drop his arms from their position, nor did he divert his attention away from the array. Normally, five or more ninja would be contributing to the seal but he was alone in this endeavor. e was He

Sasuke was fortunate that he naturally had large chakra reserves but he was also oddly thankful that Orochimaru had done so many experiments on him to further increase his chakra reserves. However Sasuke still felt his chakra reservoir dwindling down close to nothing.

"_Na-Arada"_ he barely managed to say the name as he continued to pump his chakra into then array, _"I…"_ Sasuke faltered and gave a grunt as he felt the demon fight back against him. She was woken by his call and she looked at him with concern from her position against the rock. _"I can't hold it back anymore, it will be on you,"_ Sasuke panted out; his vision was beginning to spot out from his chakra exhaustion. She nodded her head gravely and closed her eyes in a meditative state.

He then fell to his knees before he tipped backwards with his arms wrapped securely around the child tied to his chest. His vision completely blacked out.

* * *

A Suivre

* * *

**A/N:** As I said, I haven't gone through labor, I don't know how it is, also, please let me know if it should be rated M. I don't think that was terribly graphic or anything, and there isn't really any bad language so far... I get panicky about ratings and it originally was rated M but then I figured why was it so when there was nothing graphic in it?

Also... just learned who Tobi/Madara is and I totally called it - like a hundred or two hundred chapters ago! I almost wanted to call up my ex just to say "told ya so!"

Also... My mother and I are watching the extended trilogy as per winter tradition, and I kept making her pause it so we could discuss the discrepancies between the books and the movie - and to gripe about all the shit they added that they didn't need to. Love it, they did fantastic with casting, but they could have had Tom Bombidil and the Borrow Downs so Frodo doesn't look like such a sniveling, pathetic, little boy.


	3. Chapter 3: Child Care and Questions

_**Disclaimer:**_I do not own either works, nor do I profit from posting this but in terms of writing experience. The characters and plot belong to their respective creators and companies.

_**Full Summary:**_ It was to be the final showdown, the battle that would free him from his blonde shadow. But when was anything straightforward with the dobe; yet he would not change what happened for anything in the world. When that cheerful little man said he was to meant to protect and marry Nature's daughter (as he did with Goldberry), Sasuke never expected to finally have the family, the _children_, he had dreamed of as a genin. But now he finds his family being taken from his grasp as they are pulled into the struggles of the free peoples against the Power in the East. _**WARNINGS:**_ amnesia, OC's, character death (not a likable character), gender-bending.

**A/N: **I have had a busy semester and at last I have spring break, I hope to update once more within the week but no real guarantee. I'm afraid this may be a little OOC, mostly because I am having a terrible time with characterization - or at least I feel like I'm not doing Aragorn justice. If you have any pointers for Aragorn characterization I'd love that. Um... Also I don't know how child language acquisition works so forgive my attempt at child-speech. ANYWAYS, thanks for the reviews, favorites, and alerts! Enjoy ~ depressedchildren

**Key: **

"Words" westron

"_Words"_ another language being spoken (i.e. sidarian or Japanese)

_Kusnagi_ a sign or title (i.e. _Prancing Pony_)

* * *

Chapitre Trois

* * *

"'ider?" Strider looked down at the small child who butchered his alias. He smiled and stooped down to be more at the child's level. She looked after her parents with tears in her eyes. Fear radiated outwards from her wide, expressive, seemingly pupil-less eyes.

"Your mother and father are going to give you a sibling. They will be back soon enough," he gave the girl a small smile. Strider was alarmed that the man trusted him with, what was clearly, his precious daughter when he and his wife trusted no one in the town.

Strider and his Grey Company had recently been asked by Gandalf to watch over the Shire while he did research elsewhere. Strider was to catch a creature that would be entering the premises in search of a "Baggins." Once he had hold of the creature he was to call for the wizard who would be doing his research at Minas Tirith. Some of the Grey Company, accompanied by elves from Mirkwood, were also scouring the various regions in search of this being, the being he - was informed - went by the name Gollum.

He had stopped into Bree to restock his supplies. He was also in need of repairs to his usable sword, but he had resigned himself to wait - that is until he saw the "guards" of the little down carrying finely crafted swords. Strider doubted the men knew how skillfully made the weapons were, let alone how to use them. It was a shame, but it still caught his interest.

He asked around, and the townspeople were intimidated enough by him to tell all that they knew. The smith was run by a young couple that came into town over a year ago with a newborn baby. They came to Bree from the direction of the Shire, which caused much talk. However, the husband, Dû, was an intimidating man, who - with a look – could make the townsfolk's questions die on the tip of their tongues. His beautiful wife, Arad, would just smile at their questions and shrug her shoulders, while her husband would make a non-committal noise if a question ever _was_ asked.

They were queer, according to the Bree-folk, for both of them used the forge - that is, until the woman was pregnant again. It was also rumored that the husband was the one who took up needle work and did most of the cooking. The wife spun her own yarn, tended the garden that was at the side of the house, and she handled most of the business, but it was still curious. The woman was talkative but not when it concerned her past, and the man only really talked around his wife.

Neighbors claimed they spoke a foreign language, and they had seen the woman wield a knife! They generated much gossip in the town because of their ways; however, after a few citizens dared to buy their horseshoes from the couple, the townsfolk began to praise the family for their skill. The townspeople quickly fell in love with the bubbly blonde woman and the couple's little girl. They also noted that the quiet Dû softened around his little daughter and his beloved wife. He was friendlier when he was in their presence, and he had come to the town's aid the previous winter when wolves came to bay at their gates. Dû demonstrated that he not only knew how to make weapons, but that he could also use them.

Despite their now good standing with the Bree-folk, they did not seem to have any friends amongst the townspeople and they were not very trusting. They never talked about their past, and the family kept to themselves for the most part. If they were close to anyone it was Butterbur, but everyone in the town was friendly with the jolly if not forgetful innkeeper.

Thus Strider truly found himself curious as to how the blacksmith came to trust him so quickly. Perhaps the man was desperate? Though the man had intimated that he could tell Strider was "of good character." Clearly, the blacksmith could see beneath his rugged appearance, though the ranger also wondered if their conversation in forge had influenced the man at all.

"I-I wan my da-da and ma-ma!" the little girl gasped out as the waterworks began. Strider frowned and moved to sit on the floor.

"Now child, your parents will be back soon enough," Strider slowly reached out his gloved hand toward the bawling child. She shied away but eventually let the man take hold of her and pull her against his chest. The little girl sobbed but she felt safer now.

Strider smiled slightly and began to sing a lullaby he recalled from his younger years in Rivendell. The child stilled in his arms and her tears subsided. He looked down to see her looking up at him with her tears still welled at the corners' of her eyes. Her face remained flushed from her crying but she was calmer now.

She settled herself into his arms and listened to him sing. Strider smiled again and slowly began to rock the girl until the song finished.

"Wha was tha?" she asked in her inarticulate speech.

"A song I used to be sang when I was upset," he answered simply. "Tell me Dawn, what is it that you enjoy to do?" the girl looked at him with uncertainty in her eyes, but at least they no longer held fear.

The child haltingly began to explain that she would take walks with her father and she helped her mother clean the store. Her parents taught her the names of different weapons and they taught her how to speak properly in two different languages, however she mostly spoke westron.

The girl then launched into telling stories of the make-believe games her parents would play with her. They called it Ninja, and the various dolls her parents had made for her were ninja and they would have great battles against one another.

Strider picked up the toy that had been deposited with the child and examined the doll. The stitch work was crude and the doll was faceless, but he could tell time was put into it and it was well loved by the parents and child.

"Do your dolls have names?" he asked and the child's smile split wide open.

"Mama made 'is one!" Dawn exclaimed as she took the arms of the doll into her fingers, "'is name is 'under" she explained and together they made the white haired doll dance, she moved its arms up and down while Strider moved the doll's body. "'under fi with 'oads!" Dawn stated excitedly before she hopped off of Strider's lap and began running on her chubby legs toward the stairs.

"I show you res'!" she then beckoned the ranger to follow her. Strider felt mirth bubbling inside of him only to be released in a low chuckle. He stood up and made his way over to the little girl. He then picked the toddler up and ascended the stairs with the chattering girl who was waving the Thunder doll around.

He was quickly directed to her room which had many toys strewn about the floor. Strider noted that the girl's bed was a rolled up mattress at one corner of the room.

Dawn plopped down in the middle of a large cluster of dolls. She picked up one doll that had silver colored cloth for hair; she stated its name was Scarecrow. Once Strider was acquainted with Scarecrow who fought with dogs and elements, the ranger was introduced to Weasel, which had dark gray hair and red eyes. Unlike any of the other dolls, Weasel was better sown and even had a face.

"Papa made 'is one!" she stated proudly, "he fi with mines." Strider translated her speech to mean that Weasel fought with minds.

As the ranger was shown more and more dolls with peculiar names and even stranger fighting techniques, he wondered if these dolls represented people from the blacksmith and his wife's past. He understood implicitly that they had lost their memories, but perhaps these dolls were subconscious creations?

Strider found Death, a red haired doll who fought with sand, and Deer, a brunette doll that fought with shadows, were more interesting than several of the other ones. Why did so many of these dolls fight with animals, he wondered after he was introduced to all of the dolls and was asked to play Ninja with the little girl.

He was currently Monkey who fought with monkeys while Dawn was Thunder. The ranger conceded to defeat because he was not sure how one won at this game and the little girl seemed to have her own rules for it. He also knew children were prone to tears if they lost games.

The little girl gasped in delight and surprise, "But 'under never beats Mon'ey! Mama and Dada say no one can beat Mon'ey one-on-one!"

"Ah, but Monkey was just testing Thunder and Thunder passed his tests," Strider placated the little girl quickly as he thought of a reason why one of the dolls "acted" out of normal. The girl seemed happy with this and proceeded to pick up the next doll. Weasel was her next choice, and Strider wondered why it was the only doll her father had clearly made for her.

Strider selected Deer and their battle started, however after a few minutes the girl began struggling to keep her eyes open. Strider smiled and set the doll down and moved to unroll the bed in the corner.

By the time the mattress was set he found the little toddler already asleep and cuddling the Weasel doll. Strider gently picked her up and set her under the thick covers. He would wake her up in an hour and they would eat.

He smiled as he left the room. He hoped someday to be a father but … He feared his duties to Gondor would be called upon and he must ascend the throne. If that were to happen, he would never ask his love to leave her people to live with him. The Ring and Sauron were another reason he found himself hesitating to have children. Strider closed his eyes as for a moment once he reached the bottom of the stairs.

He noted the puddle from when the woman had gone into labor had not dried up and it was beginning to smell. With a cursory look around the room, he found a rag and a basin of water. He quickly cleaned the mess and dumped the soiled water. After another moment he seated himself before the fire.

Strider found himself curious as to who Tom Bombadil was. He felt as if he should know the name yet whether he did or not eluded him. He also wondered why the couple had come from the direction of the Shire. Besides Hobbiton, there was the Barrow Downs, the Old Forest, and the Gray Havens in that general direction. Surely the couple did not come from across the sea like his ancestors had, yet Strider found himself questioning if the couple was even from Middle Earth. If that was the case, then it was possible they came from across the Sea?

The more he looked at the situation, the more he was inclined to believe they were not from this world. They fought with strange weapons that no surrounding country used. What he heard of their language was very different from any tongue in Middle Earth. In addition, if the dolls were a subconscious creation, then they were comrades who had magical abilities.

Cherry, he recalled was a girl who could level a mountain and heal grave injuries. Moring, he recalled was a woman who commanded slugs and had similar abilities to Cherry. Women were deadly warriors according to the Ninja game, which was alarming to Strider. He knew some women could fight as well as any man, but it was uncommon and frowned upon.

Strider had found it disturbing that the little girl was playing such a game and that her parents condoned it. Yes, it was fairly common for young boys to play war, but for a girl to play such a violent game…it was unsettling and reinforced idea of the couple coming from a different culture. He knew Arad was a warrior but to already be instilling such expectations in their daughter… No, he should be accepting their different culture. It may be alien to him, but clearly it is natural for them.

Strider sighed once more and stood from his seat to wake the girl from her nap, but before he made his way upstairs he grabbed the girl's cloak.

She looked confused at first when strider woke her, but she quickly remembered why he was here and she began to cry.

"Your mother and father will be back before you know it, child," he soothed as he fastened the cloak around her neck, "we will get dinner at the inn and when we return I will tell you a story or two, perhaps stories about elves," the girl sniffled and looked up at Strider who smiled gently at her, "Would you like that Dawn?" the girl nodded her head and held her arms up to be carried by the man. He had kept his cloak on out of habit despite how toasty the inside of the house was, so he only needed to pull his hood up before leaving the smith.

There were few people out in the street at this time in the evening, for most were indoors eating their dinner or simply did not wish to brave the chill air. Strider could practically smell snow on the wind. He hurried to the _Prancing Pony_ and entered the building.

Strider looked around the room out of habit and noted one or two customers were nursing a pint while there were three patrons eating from steaming bowls. There were very few people at the inn this evening, which suited Strider just fine.

Butterbur hurried his way over, and his eyes instantly alighted upon the little girl in Strider's arms. "Dû, how nice to see you and little Dawn!" Strider could forgive the man's mistake since he did have his hood up still.

Though, he could use this mistake to his advantage. Strider did not want the townspeople to ask him questions if he was to be stopping in and out of this village often in the coming years. He would rather be unknown to them. Not to mention, he could damage Dû's reputation in the village as untrusting, if Strider was revealed to be watching the child for the couple.

"Hn," Strider gave a nod as he imitated the dour blacksmith.

"Is the wife resting?" Butterbur asked with a friendly smile as he led Strider and the little girl to a table. The ranger gave another monosyllable response. "Of course, and the market was closed today so I imagine you would like to get dinner, hmm? We have stew this evening,"

"Hn," Strider nodded again as he seated himself with the little girl who was looking at him curiously.

"I'll get that right out to you, and I'll make sure to give you a bowl to give to your wife when you get home," the innkeeper nodded to himself before he hurried off to complete the tasks he gave himself.

"Why 'e 'ink you're dada?" the little girl whispered as she stared up at the rugged ranger. He was surprised the girl had waited until they were alone to ask the question. Strider had been sure Dawn would blurt that the man holding her was not her father.

"I let him think I was," Strider replied before he elaborated, "Dawn, people are wary of me in this town and I prefer it that way. If they know the blacksmiths, who do not trust anyone in the town, entrusted a ranger with their daughter, then I will be bothered by the townspeople who will want to know my comings and goings." Dawn had her forehead scrunched up as she tried to understand what he was saying but she eventually nodded.

"Is 'at like why Dada has Mama 'alk to the people?" Strider chuckled at the girl's observation and nodded his head.

"I would imagine so," he replied. Butterbur returned then with the stew and two mugs of water. Strider's frown went unnoticed by Butterbur, seeing as the man was cooing at the little girl.

"Her stew is mostly potatoes and carrots," the innkeeper explained before he walked off.

Strider hastily grabbed a cloth napkin that was set down with the stew and tucked it into the girl's collar. She gripped the spoon clumsily and began to bring the steaming stew to her lips in a shaky grip.

"Dawn, it will be too hot eat right now," Strider stated and pulled the spoon away from her mouth, but his action helped her steady the utensil in her chubby hand.

"Mama and Dada blow on it" she stated with a pout marring her features. Strider chuckled and ducked his head to blow onto the steaming spoonful. He blew on it again and the steam abated. He then helped the girl bring it steadily toward her lips. She took some of the stew into her mouth and mashed it up before swallowing. She gave a large smile and hummed appreciatively.

Strider repeated his actions several more times before he helped the girl drink from her mug of water. Once the Dawn finished her meal, Strider quickly ate his lukewarm stew and washed the meal down with his mug of water. He was a little disappointed that it was not the _Pony_'s famous brew, but he assumed there was a reason as to why Butterbur gave him water and not ale. With their meal finished, he flagged down Butterbur and paid for their dinner.

He soon found himself back on the main street, which was now illuminated by stars, the moon, and lights flickering onto the streets from windows. Once they returned to the smith, he set the bowl of stew Butterbur gave him onto a table and then removed Dawn's cloak. Once he brought the fire back to life he sat down in the chair beside it with Dawn on his lap. He then began to recite the tale of Tinúviel, or a condensed, translated portion of what he knew.

The leaves were long, the grass was green,

The hemlock-umbles tall and fair,

And in the glade a light was seen

Of stars in shadow shimmering.

Tinúviel was dancing there

To music of a pipe unseen,

And light of stars was in her hair,

And in her raiment glimmering.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

Long was the way that fate them bore,

O'er stony mountains cold and grey,

Through halls of iron and darkling door,

And woods of nightshade morrowless.

The Sundering Seas between them lay,

And yet at last they met once more,

And long ago they passed away

In the forest singing sorrowless.

Strider looked down at the little girl and smiled softly to see she had fallen asleep. He stood up slowly and brought her to her room. Once he tucked her beneath the covers of her bed he relit the fire in her room's hearth. He watched the flames for a moment before he moved back down stairs and settled himself in the chair he had sat in before.

He thought of his love whenever he told the story of Beren son of Barahir and Lúthien Tinúviel. Would they face such trials, would he die once they were finally together? Would he be the one to take someone so loved away from her people?

He sighed deeply and forced himself to think of something else; before long Strider was drifting off to sleep.

He woke with a start to the high pitched whistling of wind and the shaking of shutters. He brought the fire back to life and looked around him for the loose shutter. He then headed upstairs and heard the racket coming from what he assumed was Dû and Arad's room. He hesitantly entered the room and shivered at the cold that met him. The shutter was open and he could see a blizzard was raging outside. He quickly latched the shutters closed and closed the door. He then moved to Dawn's room to stoke the fire in there. He did not wish the girl to freeze.

As he was standing from his crouch he heard a bang on the floor below. He hurried down the stairs and began to reach for his family sword, but his hand fell away from the hilt at the sight before him.

There stood Arad who had her husband draped over her should and two newborn children in slings against her chest. The woman's eyes were practically glowing and Strider was alarmed by their striking resemblance to toad eyes. She gave him a toothy smile and began to move toward him.

"Mr. Strider" she greeted with a joyful voice. She seemed to be overflowing with energy and Strider could not help but gawk.

"My Lady, you just gave birth…" and she was carrying her unconscious husband over her shoulder like he weighed nothing. Strider blinked several times before he began to assist the woman with her husband.

She laughed and gave him a smile that seemed to hold secrets, "Of course I did," she laughed again as Strider helped her unconscious husband up the stairs.

"You will have to wait about a week for your sword to be finished," she stated as they made their way up the stairs. "He'll be bedridden until then," she explained as she held the door open.

Strider quickly moved into the room and set the blacksmith on his bed. The room was startling cold but the dark haired man continued to slumber. Strider quickly moved to light a fire in the hearth within in this room. The heat gradually spread through the room and Strider felt more at ease. In the flickering light from the fireplace he noted there was a cradle in what had been a shadow covered corner.

Arad was now over there and she was setting the babies down in it with her cloak wrapped around them for further warmth. The room was still quite cold and the cradle was likely freezing. She then began to move her husband to rest beneath the covers on their bed. Once he was settled, she sat at the end of the bed and smiled contentedly.

Strider hesitated beside the crackling fire, "My lady," he began before his voice faltered. She smiled at him in a knowing way; her yellow eyes shown with amusement in the flickering light.

She looked over at her sleeping newborn babies and her face took on a wistful look. "Mr. Ranger," she addressed Strider, who found himself speechless from the turn of events. "My husband knows about medicine but I don't, and I'm worried my girls were exposed too long to the cold."

Strider blinked but quickly moved toward the crib to examine the two still new born children. Blood matted dark, wispy hair and the little babies seemed too small.

"They're about a month early," she explained, "Is there anything I can do? Dû said they were healthy but…" the blonde looked away toward the fire with a frown marring her features.

"Would-" Strider cut himself off and shook his head. He moved toward the fire and found a kettle nearby it with water in it. It was likely for the basin which rested on a table near the window.

"I'm not tired Mr. Strider," Strider noted there was irritation in the woman's voice and when he peered over his shoulder he saw that she had her hands crossed under her bust and her wide eyes were narrowed in annoyance.

Strider opened his mouth to speak but words were lost to him, so he closed it and continued with what he had been doing. He watched the kettle intently. He wanted the water to be warm but not too warm for the sensitive newborns. He had some Athlas which would hopefully help with any fever if he used it to clean the babies; it might even help restore some strength to the unconscious father, for the scent gave the weary heart.

He heard a loud exhale and imagined the woman made the noise in exasperation. He soon found the woman kneeling next to him with the basin from the table and a rag.

"What are you going to do?" she asked in a bored tone that was touched with annoyance. "I'm assuming you need this?"

"I will, I plan to clean the babes," Strider was alarmed by the woman's behavior but he had had some warning from the villagers he interviewed.

Once the water was heated enough he set the dried athalas into the basin and poured the hot water onto it. The leaves immediately began to emit their powerful aroma. He noted the woman breathed deeply and was smiling again.

"It smells pretty good."

Strider nodded in response and quickly dipped the rag into the water and rung it. He then set it against the unconscious father's head, for the water was still a little too hot for a newborn's skin.

"I thought-" Strider quickly interrupted the indignant rant he was sure was coming.

"The water is still too hot for your daughters," the blonde was placated. After a moment he tested the water again and deemed it cool enough. "Is there another rag I could use?" he asked and at once the woman was moving to retrieve a new rag.

Soon Strider had one new born in his arms and he began to towel away the various birthing fluids that had dried upon the child. The baby began to move halfway through the cleaning and became restless. Soon it was crying and was plucked from the ranger's arms. Arad had the baby swaddled once more and it was placed at her now exposed chest. Strider turned away and began to clean the other baby. Much like its sibling, the child began to cry and was quickly swaddled and fed.

"May I ask what you have named them?" Strider inquired to break the silence which had settled between them.

"We don't have names for them, we thought we were going to have one baby and we hoped it might be a boy."

Strider nodded, "And is Dawn named such for a specific reason?"

"Yes, I was given the Elvish name for day, and Dû was given a name meaning night," Strider smiled at this, and he could see, even from such a short time knowing the couple, that they were aptly named.

"Then perhaps I might suggest Tinnu and Minuial, dusk or twilight and near dawn or star fade," Strider heard a small laugh and turned to see the woman was nodding energetically. He turned away quickly for she was still feeding the little girls and it would be improper to not give the woman some respect as she did so.

"That's evlish then, right?" she asked with a boisterous tone.

"Yes, it is Sindarin," Strider paused for a moment and silence settled between them once more. He frowned as he continued to wonder why this woman was so full of life after going through such an exhausting process, he also could not begin to understand why her husband was the one who was unconscious.

"Are you full now?" Strider turned around in alarm but quickly learned Arad was speaking to her children. "Yep, that's what I thought," she chirped and handed one of the twins to him. She continued to feed the other.

"That one should be Tinnu," she stated suddenly. "I'll have to sow something into her blanket to signify that," the woman mused aloud.

"My lady –"

"You can call me Arad, Mr. Ranger," Strider could hear the woman's amusement and sighed.

"Arad," he began again, "may I inquire why…" Strider trailed off and struggled to come up with the right words. Speech had seldom failed him before, yet now he was grasping at straws. He could hear her chuckle which made him sigh in frustration. He decided another approach, "You gave birth but, what, a few hours ago," he left his question unsaid in the air and turned to face the woman who had by now finished feeding her child.

"What did you and Dû talk about?" she asked with her head tilted to one side and a thoughtful expression upon her face.

"I inquired about the peculiar weapons in your shop and my observation that both of you are warriors, and he explained that you had both lost your memories and had to start a new life," Strider watched the woman intently as she hummed and nodded her head.

"We woke up naked in what we came to know was the Old Forest. Dû was bleeding profusely from his side and there were scorch marks on both of us. Blood covered my body and there was a shallow hole in my chest, but it seemed to us that Dû was staunching the blood flow. We were found by this little old man with this bright yellow hat. He said his name was Tom Bombadil and he sang a lot, especially about this lady named Goldberry," Arad paused and scratched her head before frowning slightly.

"Of course, we couldn't understand a thing he was saying at the time and we really only understood each other," she paused again and frowned while she glared at the floor. "We didn't know who we were but we both admitted we felt the other was familiar, somehow… It was so weird. I knew nothing about myself but I felt like I knew Dû so well. His quietness was comforting and his bouts of anger were predictable to me. I could get him annoyed with me so fast, it was like I had been doing it all my life," a small smile made its way onto her face. "I respected him and he respected me too, but we pushed each other's buttons all the time,"

Strider wondered briefly what expression the woman had used but decided to let the woman continue on.

"It was so strange…I knew nothing about myself but I seemed to know so much about him, somehow… We would fight too, like experts but neither of us recalled where we learned how to move like that. We could jump to the highest branch of a tree and we could walk on water, but we didn't remember why we could do that, and it didn't seem odd when we did do it," she was frowning again.

Strider knew that he had lost his composure from the women's last statement, but it was too fantastical to believe. He tried to reign in his expression when the woman laughed at him but he continued to stare at her in wonder.

"Tom and Goldie were like that too," Arad had a mischievous smile on her face, "and then we walked up the wall and hung upside in their house," when she saw Strider's amazed expression she laughed again. "See, it's weird to you but it was natural to us!" she then flailed her unoccupied arm for emphasis. She sighed and tipped her head back, "But anyways, ever since Tom found us, he had been trying to teach us westron. Eventually we picked it up, but of course the Bastard," she shot a glare at her sleeping husband before she began to pout, "learned it right away," she then sighed and smiled up at Strider.

"Tom, well mostly Goldberry, explained who I was though; they said I was Nature's daughter. I just appeared one day with my protector in Tom's forest, or–well, that's how Tom phrased it. Goldie said I had to be Nature's daughter because I was full of natural energy, a lot like how she was full of it too, but mine was a lot stronger than hers. Both of their beliefs grew when we had our first big storm, I was practically bursting with energy. I just could not stop moving and I had to get rid of it some way. So Dû went out and we fought for like hours in the middle of the storm. I just had too much energy inside of me, like I'm a channel for nature's energy,"

Arad laughed at him for his opened mouth expression. Strider blinked several times before he shut his mouth, but his eyes were still wide as he regarded the curious woman in front of him.

"So I was exhausted after having these two," she gestured to the two newborn babies, "and I even passed out for a little while, but then it started to snow and as the snow got heavier I felt stronger. Before long, enough energy had me on my feet and carrying these three home," She smiled proudly and then stood up to put her sleeping child back in its crib. Strider joined her numbly.

"Don't get me wrong, I feel like I was run over by a cart, but I just have too much energy going through me!"

Strider could only nod as he was led downstairs.

"You should get some rest," Arad stated as she helped Strider into the chair he had occupied most of the night. He was too dazed to do much else, "I'll grab you a mat and some blankets," Arad then hurried off and Strider just stared straight ahead of him as he tried to absorb everything he had just learned.

One thing was certain, this family was not from Middle Earth.

* * *

A suivre

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, so I'm just going to explain how they got to middle earth because they don't know and they don't really explore it. Basically, Naruto was in sage mode because I don't trust Kyuubi against sharingan, Sasuke started to use a space-time technique through the eternal sharingan,and Naruto's nature energy connected with the other world and they got suck into because Sasuke had his chidori in Naruto's chest. Yeah, and Naruto became a girl because Nature is usually tied to women but not always.

Also someone asked me why Sasuke didn't just use his sharingan during the whole birth and...I forgot/was hesitant to use that. I just imagine the Kyuubi still breaking out even if it was "under" the sharingan's control. So sorry about the ill thought out attempt, but I also need it for a plot thing later on.

Thanks for reading! ~ depressedchildren


	4. Chapter 4: Nightmares and Sparring

_**Disclaimer:**_I do not own either works, nor do I profit from posting this but in terms of writing experience. The characters and plot belong to their respective creators and companies.

_**Full Summary:**_ It was to be the final showdown, the battle that would free him from his blonde shadow. But when was anything straightforward with the dobe; yet he would not change what happened for anything in the world. When that cheerful little man said he was to meant to protect and marry Nature's daughter (as he did with Goldberry), Sasuke never expected to finally have the family, the _children_, he had dreamed of as a genin. But now he finds his family being taken from his grasp as they are pulled into the struggles of the free peoples against the Power in the East. _**WARNINGS:**_ amnesia, OC's, character death (not a likable character), gender-bending.

**A/N: **I'm updating sooner than I thought, mostly because editing went faster on this chapter than my other fanfics. Um...I'm not very good at writing action scenes so bear with me. Also, I'm following the book timeline and I don't think I've mentioned this yet in the writing, but Aragorn is about 74 right now. For the book fans you know what that means. Anyways, thank you guys for the reviews and the favorites and alerts. Thank you & enjoy ~ depresedchildren

**Key: **

"Words" westron

"_Words"_ another language being spoken (i.e. sidarian or Japanese)

_Kusnagi_ a sign or title (i.e. _Prancing Pony_).

* * *

Chapitre Quatre

* * *

He was walking down the main road of the Uchiha compound, the buildings and street were in greyscale except for the sky - the sky was blood-red. Part of him knew what was coming, yet he still screamed at each aunt, cousin, uncle that he saw cut down. However, his brother was not the one killing his family, nor was it the man he came to know as Madara. Instead, it was the council of Konoha, it was the dobe, it was all of the Hokages. Then…instead of his mother and father lying in a pool of blood, it was his daughters and _Arad _kneeling but still alive.

The dobe he knew from Konoha was standing before the female, amnesic version of himself and the children they had had together. Two chakra tails twisted around the dobe and his hands were coated in chakra to look like claws. His arm was upraised to strike down his female-self and their children.

The dobe turned to face Sasuke, _"How could you do this to me?"_ he growled, _"all of you abominations should die, how could you use me to create more of you monsters?! Your eyes are too dangerous, they must all be destroyed!"_

"_Dû, save us!"_ his wife cried as she clutched their wailing newborns to her breast. _"Kill this monster!"_

_"What's the matter Teme, can't do it? Can't kill your __**wife**__," _the dobe spat out the word like it was venom, _"We're the same you know. Once she regains her memories,"_ the dobe smirked, _"She'll want them all killed, she'll become me,"_

_ "D__û__, why is it saying that?"_

_ "Tell her Teme, tell her the truth,"_

_ "Love, what's going on?"_

_ "Kill both of us Sasuke, that's the only way to keep your children safe - safe from me and Konoha."_

Then, too his horror, the dobe disappeared and Arad's toad eyes changed. They began to be tinted with red, _"Sasuke…? What is this, why am I a woman?"_ then those tainted eyes looked down at their children and the babies were thrown from her arms and their skulls split open at impact with the ground, _"What the hell, how could you use me like this!"_

Arad raised her arm and a rasengan began to form. Sasuke thought she was going to charge at him with it, but instead, she thrust her arm into Dawn's chest.

Sasuke could not stop screaming, even when he knew he was awake. He cradled his head in-between his hands and was bent over with his knees drawn to his chest. He couldn't stop shaking, nor get the image of his daughters being killed out of his mind. He raked in a shaking breath and continued to scream.

The life he had created here would end in blood too if the dobe ever regained her memories. And why hadn't she regained them yet? Didn't that damn fox heal everything, or was it hoping to be let free with its now female host in this amnesic state. Why the hell was the dobe even a woman here? Did it have something to do with the dobe now constantly being in sage mode? Bombadil stated that she was a channel for natural energy, but none of this made sense.

"Dû, what is wrong, why are you bleeding?" Sasuke thought he recognized that voice but wasn't sure.

_"Love, what's wrong?"_ he knew that voice for certain, and without thinking, he shot from the bed and pinned the female blonde to the wall.

Arad gasped and turned her head to the side so her cheek was pressed against the wooden wall.

_"D__û__! What's gotten into you?! Let me go, our daughters are crying," _there was fear in her voice but no malice, unlike in his dream. Sasuke let go of her and turned around.

He felt woozy now that his adrenaline had begun to recede, and he quickly understood why. His eternal sharingan was activated. He quickly deactivated it and fell to his knees. The ranger was by his side. He looked wary of Sasuke yet also worried for him.

"Dû, you were bleeding and-" Sasuke glared at the ranger to silence him before his eyes flitted over to Arad who was taking care of their newborns. He must have scared them with his screaming.

Once the babes were settled, his amnesic wife knelt beside him and helped him back to the bed. He could not bear to look at her, not after his actions and not after his dream. Once he was settled back down in their bed, she used a rag hanging from her apron to wipe at the blood on his cheek.

Strider remained in the room, one hand was at the hilt of his second sword, the sword Sasuke had not be commissioned to fix. He seemed to think Sasuke was going to attack his wife again, which was plausible given the smith's mental instability at the moment. He just had to remember this was not the dobe, not really.

_"Do you want to tell me what that attack was about?"_ Arad asked in slight amusement as she sat beside him on the bed.

_"Bad dream," _he couldn't look at her.

_"Yet you didn't attack Ranger-san?"_ she was perceptive, just like the dobe was during the War. But they weren't the same person, not while she was still amnesic.

_ "Arad…" _Sasuke sighed and looked at his concerned wife, his wife **not **the dobe, _"I think I dreamt of our past, and…and I think we used to be enemies," _he then looked away from her again. He imagined she had a frown marring her face and her brow was pinched in equal parts confusion and alarm.

_"What was the dream about?"_ she whispered in a small voice, her hand rested on his leg and he refrained from flinching, but he knew she would be able to tell he was tense.

_"Tell me, please,"_ he dared to look up at those wide toad-like eyes. This was his wife, Nature's daughter, supposedly created by Nature to channel its power. He felt his expression soften for a moment. However, he began to wonder what would happen when she did regain her memories.

If he told the dobe his fears now, would she hesitate to kill them all? _"I dreamed you killed our children when you regained your memories," _the horror that broke across her face was a relief.

_ "D__û__, Love, I would never do that!"_ she grabbed his arms and searched his eyes for any lie, _"I would never," _she shook her head back and forth, _"Darling, I love them more than anything. I felt them growing inside of me, and I know they love me. I would never," _she broke off and looked toward the cradle.

_"But if we regain our memories and you learn we were hated enemies?"_ Sasuke asked lowly, and she looked at him in alarm.

_"They're still our children, and we love each other now. What does the past matter?"_ Sasuke could not help but give a humorless laugh, which caused Arad to stand up and take hesitant steps backward.

_"You've regained your memories? How long?"_ she looked slightly afraid. Though, she was not afraid of him, only afraid of the truth.

Sasuke looked away from her and glared out the window, _"I think you know the answer,"_ and she did, he had seen it in her eyes.

The bell jingled and both of them heard Dawn greeting a customer in her inarticulate way. His wife hesitated but quickly left the room to handle the customer.

Sasuke was glad Dawn had not been nearby to hear what he had said. He knew she was already uneasy with the tension between her parents. This would only add to her stress and confusion.

Strider shifted where he stood by the wall, and Sasuke scoffed. "Don't worry, I didn't forget about you," Sasuke stated lowly and began to glare at the ranger who moved away from the wall to stand by the bed.

"Why were your eyes red, and why were you bleeding from one of them?" straight to the point, good. Sasuke wasn't sure how much time he had until his wife came back. "I assume you have your memories back? Your wife told me about how you appeared in the Old Forest with no memories, and I received the impression you were hiding something from her."

Sasuke smirked and gestured for the man to sit, which after a moment he complied. "I did, and how much exactly did Arad tell you?"

"That you two can do feats of magic impossible even to the Ishatar, and would make Elves jealous" Sasuke quirked an eye and Strider elaborated, "Walking on walls and water, becoming channels for nature."

Sasuke gave a humorless laugh, "That isn't even the half of it," he was pleased to note shock shining in the ranger's eyes. "My wife can make an army of herself, literal replications that can deal damage. Me, I could enter you mind right now and put your through hell. And I will do so if word gets out of what my family can do. If we are accosted by warriors to fight…" Sasuke let the threat hang and let his sharingan flash for a moment despite his chakra exhaustion.

Strider nodded - he understood, good. "And you attacked your wife because…?" Strider raised an elegant eyebrow and Sasuke looked away from the man.

"Before arriving here, I had my hand buried inches from her heart with electricity coursing through both of us; again, another thing I won't hesitate to use if my family is accosted," Sasuke turned to look at the man, though he did not dare charge up the chidori in his current condition.

"Then I will be sure to remain on your good side," Sasuke smirked and Strider bowed his head slightly, "I will respect your wish for peace and this has answered many of my questions. It is an honor to be in the presence of another skilled warrior," Strider bowed his head again and stood up to leave.

"I should let you rest," and Sasuke was left alone to sleep.

Strider paused at the bottom of the stairs. He truly had learned so much and it was disturbing. If such a skilled fighter no longer wanted to be involved in conflict, what kind of world had this couple come from?

Strider got the impression that the smith had been used as a weapon. There had been no explicit clues to this being the case, but Strider just knew that it had been the case. Dû's hate, especially for his family, to be pulled into conflict, and the betrayal that shone in his eyes were evidence of this fact. The smith had been manipulated into a weapon, Strider could tell just by looking at the other man. It was…distressing.

Also this animosity he had for his wife in the past was alarming. It was against every fiber of Strider's being to even imagine a man fighting a woman, trying to kill a woman. Strider knew the smith no longer felt animosity toward his wife, but the man seemed to think it would come back up when his wife regained her memories.

Was their hate in the past truly so strong? Why was Dû convinced she would hate him, and what had they been yelling about before, it seemed to circle around their children if the constant looks toward the crib were any indication. He shouldn't worry himself with these thoughts; the smith and his wife were not his concern. Though… if they were on the free peoples' side, they could be great allies and a tide-changer.

A whole army created from one single woman powered by the raw energy of nature…it was almost too fantastical to believe. And harnessing lightning in the palm of one's hand…Strider felt overwhelmed. Yet, all of those things could happen to him if this family was drawn into the war.

Strider could understand the man's drive for peace, and just as he had said before, he would respect the man's wishes. If Strider had seen as much war as that man had, for experience in bloodshed shown in the man's eyes, Strider too would wish for peace. Strider would want to live long and fully with his family if he too had gone through terrible war. Yes he had seen many battles but he had yet to enter a full out war, though that was sure to be on the horizon.

Strider paused at the entrance to the shop and could not help but smile the scene. Arad just finished wrapping up horseshoes for the client. Dawn was sitting on the floor with her Weasel doll and- and that was his bow in her lap! After his momentary surprise he began to chuckle, she was plucking at the bowstring and giggling. The bow dwarfed her but she was clearly interested in the weapon. Arad smiled at her daughter and grabbed a pliable piece of wood which she began to whittle. Strider smiled, and quickly realized what she was doing, Arad was going to make her daughter a bow closer to her size.

No, Strider would never wish to drag this family into the war, they were too happy as they were. If he was called to fight against the Eye, this family would be another reason for him to answer the call. He would keep the Shire, Rivendell, and this family safe from taint of Mordor when the time came, and he knew the time would eventually come. This family deserved peace despite the aid they could bring to the war.

"Mr. Strider," Arad greeted with a smile, "Is my stubborn husband sleeping now?"

"Yes, my- Arad," the woman laughed at his mistake, it simply felt strange to address a woman without some kind of title.

"'ider, 'ider, 'ow this work?" Dawn held up his bow as best she could and Strider stooped down and held out his hand for the bow.

"I will show you, little Dawn," she gave him a gummy smile and handed him his bow. Strider then stood back up and gestured how to hold the bow, he then pulled back the string slowly. Dawn watched him with wide eyes and clapped her chubby hands together. The blonde woman chuckled behind him and Strider smiled as well.

"It looks like your mother is making you your own bow, Dawn," the girl turned to her mother and looked at her with wide, confused eyes.

"Soon, you'll have your own bow," Arad replied and spoke in that strange tongue she and her husband used, _"You'll soon have your own bow,"_

Dawn giggled, _"I get my own, that," _she pointed at the weapon in Strider's hand.

Arad nodded, _"A bow,"_ and Dawn repeated the strange sounds back to her mother, "A bow," Arad stated and Strider quickly understood what was going on. The woman was teaching her how to say bow in their native tongue and westron. How fascinating.

"And the Elvish term is _peng,_" Strider chimed in and chuckled at the mildly surprised expression on the mother's face, "and bow-string is called, _tang_."

The rest of the morning passed slowly with Strider and Arad teaching the little girl different words and phrases in different languages.

"My little Dawn's going to be trilingual by the time you get your sword repaired," Arad laughed and continued to slowly carve at the bow. The woman furrowed her brow in thought, "Mr. Ranger?"

Strider paused in teaching the girl the Sindarian word for cloak, and turned to face the woman, "Yes, Arad?"

"Will you be coming to Bree often?"

"I will," he answered shortly and the woman smiled brightly.

"Good, you're welcome anytime! And if you have any other ranger friends, they're welcome as well. I'll be sure Dû makes something delicious," the woman set down her carving and stood up and began to sweep the shavings into a rag.

"May I ask why your husband takes up cooking and…" Strider paused and grimaced. He was being rude, but his curiosity had got the better of him.

Arad set the shavings in a kindle pile next to the hearth and began to laugh, "Because I can really only make soups and stews," she moved over to Dawn and picked the girl up, who had begun to occupy herself with her Weasel doll. "I'm also all thumbs when it comes to sewing. Dû doesn't mind, he says sewing a shirt is like stitching a person up. I think in our past he was a medic or something," she laughed sheepishly and began to rub the back of her neck with the arm not occupied by Dawn.

Hmm… that was good to know. The Grey Company was seldom in danger while they protected the Shire, but occasionally one of them would become ill or hurt. It would be good to have someone so close by that could heal them.

"I see, that is good to know," Arad looked at him sharply for a moment but then relaxed. Strider stood up and nodded his head toward the woman, "I believe I should make my leave now that your husband has awakened,"

Arad smiled and nodded her head, "Very well. You're welcome to come by tomorrow, though Dû won't be up to fixing your sword until the end of the week," Strider nodded his head to bid farewell. He soon was sitting in a dark corner of the _Prancing Pony_ nursing a pint and smoking his pipe.

Strider would be joined by Halbarad soon, and he would be informed on how patrols were going. Strider made sure to appear as intimidating and unsavory as possible to keep prying ears far away. His image in this town was good for some things.

* * *

Sasuke sighed as he sat behind store counter. He had a crutch leaning against the wooden structure and he loathed to use the damn thing, but with chakra exhaustion he had little choice. His wife was busy in the forge, and thus far had not come across his chokutō, which was likely a good thing.

"Welcome," Sasuke greeted immediately when he heard the bell ring. He then looked up and nodded his head to Strider. At least it was the ranger and not an annoying Bree citizen. Strider paused just inside the shop and cocked his head to one-side.

Sasuke smirked, he imagined the man was wondering why he could hear metal being worked when Sasuke was the one behind the counter and not in the forge. "My wife is working the forge today," Sasuke stated and was slightly disappointed by the man's understanding nod. Usually men from this world were appalled to hear that a woman was doing a man's job.

"I see," Strider moved to lean against a wall but he was stopped by Dawn running out of the forge to hug Strider's legs. Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at this and set a questioning gaze upon the older man.

"Hello little Dawn," the girl smiled up at the ranger and then her face contorted in thought. Hesitantly she stuttered out something in a strange language and Strider chuckled before ruffling her hair. "Very good Dawn, you remembered how to say hello in Sindarin," Sasuke's daughter beamed up at the man and then skipped over to her father and held up her arms.

Sasuke leaned forward in his chair and lifted her onto his lap. Even her slight weight was a strain in his weakened condition.

"Do you like learning Elvish?" Sasuke asked Dawn and the little girl nodded her head adamantly, Sasuke hummed and turned to Strider, "I'm afraid you'll have to wait until I'm in better condition to fix your sword. My wife…" Sasuke refrained from grimacing because the dobe, regardless of her amnesic state, had never had the finesse for swordsmanship and certainly not for crafting or repairing swords. Sure the blonde could make brilliant and elaborate seals, but that was a very different discipline. She could handle forging kunai, shuriken, and horseshoes but swords…no.

"You need not say more, I would prefer a swordsman to handle repairing a sword," Strider gave Sasuke that infuriately knowing smile Itachi always gave him. He refrained from sighing and instead began braid Dawn's hair. She giggled and squirmed for a moment but let her father weave her hair together.

"I am actually here to talk, if that is alright," Strider was now leaning against one wall with his arms folded casually over his chest. He was reaching into his vest, likely for a pipe.

"I would prefer you did not smoke, thank you," Sasuke seemed to surprise the man, which caused the man's hand to pause inside of his cloak. Nodding slowly, Strider retracted his hand and continued to cross his arm.

"Your wife told me you were likely trained as a healer," Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at this comment but nodded his head. His wife really said that to Strider? "How grave of injuries are you able to heal?"

Sasuke paused in braiding his daughter's hair and she looked over her shoulder at him in confusion. Sasuke looked down at his hands for a moment as he recalled helping Kabuto in many of his experiments and surgeries. He quickly resumed braiding Dawn's hair and tied a piece of leather around the end of the braid.

"I can set bones, remove projectiles, extract poisons, sew someone up in seconds, and if not too sever, I can stop internal bleeding," the ranger seemed shocked by, what Sasuke thought to be, his limited healing expertise. "I can also transplant organs if they're compatible," he knew this would seem to be in the realm of impossibility to Strider, but that did not matter to him.

"Whas that mean?" Dawn asked with her brow scrunched up. Sasuke smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. She giggled slightly and pulled onto his bangs.

"Well," Sasuke began and bumped his nose against her temple, _"someday your eyesight will begin to fail, and so will your sisters' eyesight,"_ Dawn frowned and looked at her father in confusion, _"That was happening to me and your uncle, but then he gave me his eyes and that no longer happens to me. You will have to exchange your eyes with your sisters someday so none of you will go blind,"_ She looked at him with wide eyes.

_"Why's that?"_ Dawn looked at him almost afraid and Sasuke gave a disarming smile.

_ "Because it's in our family,"_ Sasuke then activated his sharingan and Dawn's eyes widened further, _"You will likely get these, but hopefully you won't gain these,"_ activated his eternal sharingan which quickly began to bleed. He deactivated it and continued his lecture, _"But if you do you will need to exchange eyes with your sisters,"_

_ "Okay Tousan,"_ Sasuke smiled and kissed her on the forehead. Strider was watching them with a slightly furrowed brow. Sasuke smirked up at him and wiped the blood from his cheek with the back of his hand.

"Why does your eye bleed when it…" Strider frowned, he could not think of a proper word for what he had just witnessed occur in the man's eyes.

"It's my brother's eye and it bleeds because whoever planted it in there did poor job," Sasuke could not help but chuckle at the horror that flickered across the ranger's face, "In my defense, I was coerced into going through the surgery, and my brother had just died." Sasuke tried not to let "Madara" sour his mood or the lies his life had been based off of. Thankfully one of his newborn daughters began to cry.

"I'll go get mama," Dawn clambered off his lap and hurried into the forge. Soon Sasuke's wife was hurrying out of the forge.

She paused for a moment and greeted Strider with a broad smile, "Mr. Ranger" she greeted before running up the stairs. Sasuke could not help but smile. He hoped the dobe never regained her memories because it was nice living in peace away from Konoha and the Ninja world.

"Dû," Strider forced Sasuke out of his thoughts and he shifted his gaze to the ranger, "I would be grateful if my kinsmen and I could seek your healing. It would be for the most severe injuries and I would be grateful if we did not have to make the long journey to Rivendell. I would also be interested in sparing with you when you are better."

Sasuke just nodded his head, and after a pause he spoke, "I still have some work to do on my sword, but I won't turn down a spar with another swordsman," Sasuke paused again, and figured he could be sociable since he didn't have any work to hide behind. "And who are these kinsmen I may be patching up someday?"

Strider moved toward the stool by the fire and sat down. Sasuke could tell the man wished to pull out his pipe, but he was respecting Sasuke's earlier request. The former missing-nin supposed this would take a while; after all, people in this world did seem to enjoy talking and sharing very long stories or poems.

* * *

_**A suivre,**_ mais là bas est quelque chose additionnelle.

* * *

Sasuke smirked when he heard the shop bell ring and his eldest daughter's gleeful cry. She had certainly warmed up to the ranger. Sasuke sheathed his sword and leaned it against the wall next to the shop door. He left the forge and nodded his head toward Strider.

"_Hello Little One,"_ Strider said something to Dawn that Sasuke did not understand, and she halting replied in the same tongue. Strider gave a broader smile and ruffled Dawn's hair before straightening and nodding to Sasuke.

"Dû,"

"Strider," Sasuke returned the nod, but of course his wife had to begin laughing, though she did try to hide it behind her hand.

"Wow, both of you part of the stoic club or something?" she asked while snickering and gesturing between them.

"Hn," Arad just laughed a little more at Sasuke's response and rolled her eyes.

"Hello Arad, I hope you do not mind if I steal your husband for a moment?" Strider asked with a slight smile. Arad eyed him up and down for a moment before her expression turned mischievous. She wouldn't, would she?

"Didn't know you swung that way Mr. Ranger," she winked and Sasuke bowed his head, she did – what else he could expect from the dobe spending three years with the perverted sage? "Just make sure to include me, will ya?" And of course she had to make it worse.

"Hn," Sasuke ignored the ranger's completely horrified expression and grabbed his wife's chin. He brushed his thumb against her bottom lip and watched her face flush, "Now Strider is not use to your sense of humor, and he was only going to spar with me," He brought his face close to the dobe's and breathed against her lips. Her eyes were fluttering shut, "Apologize," he whispered before completely retracting his person from her.

Her eyes widened and she gaped at him. _"You fu-you tease! Damn it bastard!" _Arad's face resembled a tomato and she was pointing at him as she shouted.

Sasuke smirked, _"Apologize." _Arad folded her arms under her bust and glowered at the floor, but her face really was not meant for skulking or glaring. He chuckled slightly but made a circular motion with his wrist.

"I'm sorry Mr. Strider, you're not used to my sense of humor and I just couldn't resist the chance." Strider still looked horrified and tense. "I guess those kinds of jokes were normal where I came from but people here are such prudes-"

"Arad," Sasuke interjected at this point before her apology devolved into bashing another culture, "Even in our home country such vulgarity was frowned upon, though it was expected from you."

"Oh…well, okay Mr. Ranger, sorry for being vulgar, just my sense of humor. Meant nothing by it, really,"

Strider fidgeted slightly in his discomfort while Dawn just looked at the adults with wide eyes. "Whas vul-vulgar mean?"

"When you're older," Sasuke replied immediately before Arad could explain the term – because she would and she would elaborate.

"Yes…well. I just hoped for a spar," Strider still sounded off balance from the earlier remark.

"I've been dying for a spar," Arad started to move toward her boots when Sasuke pulled back on her arm.

"You should stay here," Sasuke stated blankly. She immediately began to glare at him and opened her mouth in objection but he beat her to it, "I don't have lacteal ducts and if they wake up…" he let her figure out the rest and she sighed in defeat.

Of course Arad then had to look down at her chest and cup her breast, _"Damn you things."_ Sasuke only dropped his head and sighed.

He then looked up and Strider and jerked his head toward the door of the forge. "We'll be back," he then closed the forge door behind Strider and picked up his chokutō and led the way out of the forge into their backyard. Without a second thought he jumped onto the city wall and landed in a crouch.

Strider was looking up at him with his mouth wide open. Sasuke smirked slightly and jumped back down. "Alright, throw an arm over my shoulder and hold on," with a furrowed brow Strider complied hesitantly, but as soon as Sasuke jumped he held on tightly to the missing-nin. Sasuke then jumped down onto the other side of the wall and the ranger let go.

"Such acrobatics," Strider whispered as they began to move into the surrounding woods. "I've never seen anyone move like that before." Sasuke just smirked and continued on.

"Please, what is the secret?" Sasuke glanced over his shoulder and knew his smirk annoyed the ranger if the tightness in his jaw was any indication.

"An energy you don't have," Sasuke stated and stopped in a clearing. This seemed suitable for their spar.

"What do you mean?"

Sasuke sighed, and brought his hands together in the ram seal and began to circulate his chakra. To any ninja they would be able to see the blue energy seeping off of him, however this Middle-Earthling clearly could not.

"I was focusing energy in a way that would have been visible to ten-year-olds in my world," granted the ten-year-olds would be training to become shinobi, but the ranger did not need to know that. "You could see nothing because you don't have it. This energy, is what allows my wife and I to do these "great feats" you've mentioned.

"Now, I will refrain from using my energy in our spar, so shall we begin. Sheaths on?" Strider nodded to Sasuke's statement. Sasuke held up his sword in his right hand, and Strider held up his own with two hands. How cumbersome, even Zabuza could wield his sword with one hand.

Sasuke surged forward and quickly slipped under his opponents guard and lightly tapped him lest _kusanagi_ broke through the sheath. He then rolled out of the way of a downward strike, courtesy of Strider.

Sasuke lazily flipped backwards on one hand and landed on his feet with his sword raised. He then rushed his sparring partner and pivoted out of the way of a forward slash. He spun around the Ranger but the Ranger was keeping up with him and followed his movement. Strider blocked Sasuke's sword and then attempted to kick Sasuke in the side but he jumped out of the way. Sasuke smirked and charged again.

Strider was becoming better and better as their spar went on. He kept up with Sasuke's movement and blocked more and more of his strikes. He kept his guard tight and found creative ways to keep Sasuke out of his guard. It was remarkable to see the man's improvement in such a short amount of time.

After an hour or two, judging by the sun's position, Sasuke nodded his head to a panting ranger. It was strange to fight without the aid of chakra, but the practice was still good. "You are truly a master swordsman," Strider panted slightly before straightening and holding out his hand. He grasped Sasuke's arm in a strange handshake, though perhaps it was a warrior custom of these lands?

"My real name is Aragorn son of Arathorn," Strider stated with a serious face. Sasuke just nodded and made a noncommittal sound at the back of his throat.

"You are a master in your own right, no B however," Sasuke gave a wry smile to the other man who paused mid step.

"So those dolls were people from your past?" Strider, or Aragorn, gave Sasuke a thoughtful look.

"Of course, though my wife has always been more sentimental than myself," Sasuke rolled his eyes. He could care less about the dobe's precious people, in the end, they had all helped in the destruction of his family. They were part of Konoha, part of the system that had made him into a weapon…

"Weasel was the only doll you made?" Sasuke looked over at his companion and noted the thoughtful expression. It was likely the man would back off if Sasuke told him to.

"My brother, Weasel is my brother."

Strider hummed as they continued their trek through the woods and back to the village. "So he was the only one from your world you cared about?"

"Hn," Sasuke gave a curt nod and saw Strider make a similar gesture. Strider's brow was slightly furrowed but understanding shone in his eyes. Sasuke smirked slightly.

This ranger saw more than what was on the surface, he saw beneath the beneath. He didn't pry further than he needed and he respected the wishes of others. He was honorable, the second honorable person Sasuke had ever known. He hoped Strider would pass through Bree often in the future. Such a silent and understanding companion would be nice to have, and it would be a reprieve from the dobe.

As they approached Bree, Sasuke wondered when they could spar again.

* * *

**A/N:** There, a little bit of action. And for those disturbed by the Sasuke/Arad part, sorry but Sasuke is the type to manipulate people through physical attraction. Also next chapter will answer why Arad doesn't remember anything yet, and there will be more awkward situations between Arad and Sasuke as well as some explanation of what they've been doing since they left Goldberry and Tom. Hope I haven't scared anyone off. There will be huge time skips from here on out and soon this will be caught up to the movie timeline.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it ~ with love, depressedchildren


	5. Chapter 5: Domesticity

_**Disclaimer:**_I do not own either works, nor do I profit from posting this but in terms of writing experience. The characters and plot belong to their respective creators and companies.

_**Full Summary:**_ It was to be the final showdown, the battle that would free him from his blonde shadow. But when was anything straightforward with the dobe; yet he would not change what happened for anything in the world. When that cheerful little man said he was to meant to protect and marry Nature's daughter (as he did with Goldberry), Sasuke never expected to finally have the family, the _children_, he had dreamed of as a genin. But now he finds his family being taken from his grasp as they are pulled into the struggles of the free peoples against the Power in the East. _**WARNINGS:**_ amnesia, OC's, character death (not a likable character), gender-bending.

**A/N: **I'm updating because I probably won't be able to until May. This chapter is a little fluffy because some of it is told form Arad's perspective. This chapter is titled domesticity for a reason, so the first two sections are very domestic, feel free to skip them if that makes you uncomfortable, though some of their past is explained in the first section. Please try to enjoy his chapter, and thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, or put this on alert. Thank you & enjoy ~ depresedchildren

**Key: **

"Words" westron

"_Words"_ another language being spoken (i.e. sidarian or Japanese)

_Kusanagi_ a sign or title (i.e. _Prancing Pony_).

* * *

_Chapitre Cinq_

* * *

_**3006**_

Sasuke went through another kata before he sheathed _kusanagi_. He looked up at the mid-day sun and sighed. The exercise had done little to relieve his building stress and he seldom had the chance to practice his kenjutsu. With his wife hanging off of him every other second, he was afraid she would see the sword and it would jog her memories too.

Two years, it had been two years since he regained his memories. Two years of anticipating his wife regaining her memories and killing their children. Two years of sexual tension that Sasuke refused to act upon. She stole kisses but he refused to return them, she tried to have sex with him and he would suggest a spar instead. He didn't want to be castrated when she regained her memories either.

He liked to think her amnesia was a blessing, but with each passing month Sasuke began to wonder if it really was fortunate. He supposed he should have known the dobe would be…well sexually inclined after studying under the toad sage, but he never thought that would have translated to the dobe's female form. Crude jokes were one thing, but if he was jumped one more time - he was going to use Kawarimi with Bill Fenry. Screw the consequences.

Sasuke sighed and placed his sword into a storage seal and tucked it into his tunic. He and his wife finally had recreated sealing paper through lacing their chakra into parchment and scrolls. It was a little different but it worked well enough. If he was forced to admit he admired something about the dobe, it would be her fuinjutsu expertise despite not remembering her training in the art. It seemed her skill at seals was intuitive and a natural ability, which was becoming more useful as they managed to lace more and more scrolls with chakra to be used with seals.

He sighed again and rolled his head from side to side to loosen his neck muscles. He better get back before she left the shop in the hands of their four-year-old.

He hoped Strider, would visit again soon, but about a year ago he had been sent off on some mission by a "Gandalf the Grey." It sounded like Strider expected to be gone for several years and would be traversing Middle Earth. At least Halbarad visited on occasion with his son Haldarad and Sasuke got to spar then, but it wasn't the same.

Though Strider infuriated Sasuke at times with his remarkable likeness to Itachi, the man was honorable and Sasuke enjoyed his company. He knew they had a mutual trust between them, if Strider disclosing his real name was any indication. He still may not know the full significance of "Aragorn, son of Arathorn," but he would respect the man's wish for anonymity.

By the time Sasuke jumped over the wall and into their backyard, his wife was at the door of the forge and waving at him. _"About time you showed up, they're driving me insane!"_ that would be the twins, Sasuke mused.

Minuial and Tinnu quickly proved to take after their mother's personality, most notably her mischievous streak. Barely walking and they already got into everything and strategically placed things to create tripping hazards – or so Sasuke and Arad believed.

He greeted his wife with a smile which she returned before her eyes flashed mischievously. She suddenly had her arms wrapped around his neck and was smiling against his lips. If the dobe had her memories she would have flung herself across the room and begun making gagging noises, similar to when they had been waiting for team assignments and the dobe was knocked into him. Really, what had been going through the blonde's mind to crouch in front of him so precariously?

_"Did you have a good exercise, D__û__, not too tired though, right?"_ she kissed his jaw and he refrained from responding, though the dobe did have a rather nice rack in this body and it was currently pressed tightly to his chest – she was no Hinata by any means, but her assets were tasteful and proportional. _"Maybe we could have some private exercise later,"_ she had practically purred the word private. Gods, this was wrong on so many levels.

_"I could spar, kunai only?"_ he asked and could not hold back his smirk. His wife huffed and spun on her heels with her arms flailing at her sides.

_ "What happened to your libido!"_ she exclaimed and stomped back into the house before giving a cry of exasperation. Sasuke had followed her inside and quickly understood why she had made that noise.

_"Tinnu, Minuial!"_ he called out and was pleased to see his youngest children hurry to stand before him, _"Why did you make this mess?"_ Sasuke asked with as much disappointment as he could muster in his voice. The girls bowed their heads and fidgeted for a little bit, and Sasuke felt his resolve to be stern with them dissolving.

Really, he could never be angry with his daughters, though Sasuke knew he had locked the ink inside of a cupboard, and the cupboard had had a seal on it. But he saw the evidence for himself that his daughters had broken into it. How they managed that, he had no clue. Then they had to decorate the whole shop and it looked like their merchandise logs were scattered across the ink covered floor.

He sighed and unfolded his arms. He managed to keep his voice hard, though he was quite impressed with their abilities, _"Alright, get the rags, you're helping me clean this up,"_ Dawn began to giggle from her place behind the counter, _"And why are you laughing,"_ Sasuke snapped, though he made sure to smile at his oldest child to show he was not really angry. She promptly began to blush, _"you are their big sister, you should have been watching them."_

_ "You know they don't listen to me, Tousan," _Dawn was pouting with her arms over her chest. It was true; the twins had both his and their mother's stubborn streak. Sighing, Sasuke ruffled Dawn's hair and kissed her forehead. When he straightened he noted his wife was giving him a strange look. She was carrying basin of water in one arm and had it resting against her hip while her other hand was held up to her mouth to shield her smile. Her eyes caught his own and she quickly turned away.

Sasuke sighed and set to cleaning up the floor with his two little monsters but he quickly let them go from clean-up duty, and let them play with their dolls. They had pitch black hair like him, but Minuial's hair was wild like her mother's hair, while Tinnu's hair was straight and well-behaved, just like Itachi's hair. They had their mother's face, which had become more feline-like with the dobe's gender change. His girls' eyes, however, were just like his - though Minuial had lines under her eyes like Itachi. He saw so much of his family and the dobe's family in his daughters. The Yondaime's nose here, his father's forehead there, but they were still prefect in Sasuke's eyes.

He liked to think that Tinnu took a little more after him because she was the quieter one of the two, but then again the twins had a knack for mischief. He would know with more time, and he could care less if they did indeed take after the dobe. Because, in the end, they were part of him and they were _their_ precious daughters.

Arad watched her husband as he scrubbed at the almost dry ink. She really did not know how her girls got into the cupboard. She had seen Dû make the seal and something at the back of her mind told her he was doing it right, though she could have made a stronger one. She refrained from sighing and looked down at her precious little four-year-old.

Dawn had let Arad braid her hair, it was a skill the woman was becoming much better at, but she often received complaints about pulling too hard. Arad had to say that it was her best work yet, and she had even pinned the braids up on top of the little girl's head like he had seen some of the other girls in town wear their hair.

Arad could not keep her eyes from straying to her husband who had grown so distant from her. She could remember like yesterday when they would run around in the Old Forest naked and make love beneath the trees.

She missed making love with him. It had been over two years since he had last touched her intimately. Was it because he regained his memories? She frowned and looked away from her husband's rather fine ass - she was horny enough without ogling that. She knew he loved their daughters but he seldom looked at her with the same love. He used to all the time, but since he regained his memories…

_**"That's right, he remembers your past. He doesn't want you anymore,"**_Arad did her best to ignore the voice. She hated it, and she did not know why it was always bothering her. _**"He's afraid you'll kill his children, remember, he told you so himself," **_she glared at the far wall, _**"That why he won't touch you anymore, why he won't bed you like he used to. He hates you, you disgust him,"**_

She wanted to tell the voice to shut up, but whenever she tried to communicate with it, something blocked her off from it. The voice laughed cruelly at her, _**"I'm sure if you remind him, if you get him to screw you again…everything will be better,"**_ didn't the voice know she was trying?!

Thankfully, a customer came in and Arad was more than eager for the distraction. As she took down the man's order, a new hoe head, she kept hearing the voice whisper to her. It was telling her Dû no longer wanted her, but she should make him remember why he should want her.

She quickly moved into the forge after biding the customer goodbye, and began to heat the metal ore. Her husband could watch the girls for a little while. She needed to distract herself, and forge did that until the voice began whispering again.

_**"Maybe it's because you've only given him daughters. He might say he's fine with that, but who wouldn't want a son? Maybe he thinks you're incapable of giving him a son and he's found a wench that can give him one. A bitch that can better give him what he wants, and satisfies him better than you ever could." **_

` She could hear Dû putting their daughters down for a nap, and without a second thought she removed the finished hoe from the water and set it aside to cool further. She then took off her apron and moved back into the house. Dû was just coming down the stairs and he paused when he saw his wife just standing in front of the forge.

_"Arad, you should close that before the fumes enter the house,"_ he reminded her before he continued into the room and sat heavily down on the chair behind the counter. Arad closed the door slowly behind her and moved to stand behind her husband. He tensed the moment her shadow fell on him, but she saw him forcing himself to relax.

She furrowed her brow at this and gently set her hands on his shoulders, he tensed back up and she sighed, _"Really, Love," _she let her exasperation saturate her words, _"You're tense and tired, I was just hoping to help you relax," _she then began to kneed the extremely taught muscles in her husband's shoulders and neck. Slowly, he began to relax and he even rolled his head backwards.

She peered over and was pleased to see he had closed his eyes. Then, in one fluid movement, Arad swung over the chair to straddle her husband's lap. She missed his heat, especially between her legs. Before he could even protest, she began to kiss his neck and roll her hips. Her breath hitched when she could feel his body react to her. However, that momentary distraction as enough for Dû to suddenly have Arad pinned to the floor. He looked annoyed, tired, and above all else, frustrated.

_"Stop it," _he growled and for a moment she thought there was a red tint to his eyes, though she passed it off as a trick of light. She frowned but quickly hooked her legs around his hips. He growled again.

_"Damn it, D__û__! Why don't you want me anymore? Is it because I've only given you girls? Have you found someone else? Why?!" _her legs fell to either side of his legs and she couldn't hold it back anymore, she began to cry. _"Don't you love me anymore?"_

She distantly noted that he loosened his hold on her arms and that he was lowering himself onto her. She was rolled onto her side and she felt one of Dû's hands cup her face.

_"There's no one else, Arad, there will never be anyone else."_ She looked at him through her tears and instantly knew he was being sincere, _"I will always love you for giving me children, children I had given up on ever having. I don't care about having a son, because I have three perfect daughters and I could never want anything more than them," _his eyes were so soft as they looked at her, and she knew he loved her for exactly the reason he stated.

_"But you don't want me anymore?"_ she whispered and she was on the verge of more tears.

_"Because you'll hate me when you regain your memories," _Arad looked at him in surprise and wondered if their animosity before was truly so strong that she would hate the sire of her children?_ "I know you Arad, you'll hate me if I make love with you after knowing who you truly are."_

No, she wanted to tell him he got it all wrong, that she would never be like that…but then there was a little voice at the back of her mind that whispered she would hate him. It wasn't that mean voice, it was a different voice, a voice that told her things she didn't know she knew she could do.

_"Come on, Arad, why don't we take a nap like our girls?"_ she then felt him scoop her up off of the floor and into his arms. He hadn't carried her like this since they got that home in the Shire just before she became pregnant with Dawn. She could not help the sudden giggle at the memory.

_"What?"_ Dû asked with a smirk playing on his lips. They were in their bedroom now and he gently set her down on their bed. He lay down beside her and she moved to nestle her head against his chest.

_"Our Shire wedding and Crickhollow,"_ Arad smiled against his chest, she loved the little hobbiton dress she had worn for their wedding, she even kept it when they were kicked out of the Shire. Dawn was probably big enough to wear it now.

_"Hmm…that was the first test we had on fitting into Westron culture," _Dû mused, _"We made too skinny of hobbits,"_ he stated with a slight laugh which caused Arad to snort a little at the memory. They had looked more like children with big feet than the rather corpulent little people when they used their illusion trick. Oh, but it had been so peaceful there, and they had learned how to smith from a kind elder Brandybuck.

_"I think we should have moved there earlier, we might have caught that Bilbo guys' big party,"_ Arad mused and closed her eyes while she held onto her husband.

_"Hn," _Dû paused and she thought that was all he was going to say, but then he went on, _"I think we would have stuck out like a sore thumb and would have been compromised, though…from what that Brandybuck told about the party, it would have certainly been a sight." _

Arad laughed, she too could remember a young tween, Merriadoc she believed was his name, talking animatedly with his cousin Peregrin about the festivities. _"Mmmm… yes, and I believe that Brandybuck and his cousin a Took, were the only ones to dance with me at our wedding," _Arad poked her husband in the chest and he gave a grunt, _"Really, did you have to be such a stick in a mud,"_

_ "I believe I made up for that, if you recall,"_ Arad blinked in momentary surprise, had her husband just made a suggestive comment! She felt her face burn for a moment and she tilted her head back to see her husband smirking at her with his eyes shining in amusement.

Hesitantly she slid her hand to the hem of his breeches, but he caught her hand and the amusement died from his eyes. Arad sighed and ducked her head under his chin. _"Why couldn't you stay amnesic, I miss you," _she whispered.

She heard Dû sigh and felt him wrap his arms around her, _"Dobe…"_ that felt like an endearment, a very familiar endearment. _"I never thought you could make me happy, but ever since we came to this world, I have never been happier and you caused it."_ She felt him exhale into her hair, it tickled a little, _"Trust me, Arad, it's for the best if we stop being intimate until you regain your memories. I loved our time in the Shire and Old Forest, and I've loved the years we have lived here. Just please…" _the voice at the back of her mind told her that that one word had to have taken a lot for Dû to say. She frowned but nodded her head slowly. If Dû wanted to wait until she regained her memories, fine, she would.

Sasuke sighed again as he heard his wife's breathing even out in sleep. He had not lied but he had not told the full truth. He was still confused about it all himself. He hated the dobe from Konoha, the dobe that wanted him to come back to Konoha – to the place that had destroyed his family. Yet it was ultimately the dobe that had given him a family and allowed him to experience peace at long last. He would lay down his life for his girls, they were his whole world, and the dobe had given them to him.

Oh, and their time in the Old Forest and Crickhollow…he never would have imagined living in such peace or happiness. The sex was pretty nice too, but frankly the thought of the dobe from Konoha turned him off, especially what her reaction would be when she regained her memories. The dobe made a beautiful woman, but when she regained her memories she would be the dobe again - male personality stuck in a gorgeous body.

He needed to stop thinking about her body, which was easy to do when he made her toad eyes change into the red eyes of the Kyuubi. Reflexively, he held on tighter to Arad, _Arad, _not Naruto. He never imagined being in love, and he couldn't say he was in love with Arad but she did give him children and that made him feel _something. _ Whatever it was, he knew it would stop him from killing the dobe when she regained her memories; it was like his nightmare said. He couldn't kill his wife, though he would make damn sure she didn't kill their children.

Perhaps that was why he couldn't kill her because their children loved her. She was their mother; she nursed them, and helped raise them. They loved her just as much as they loved him. Damn it dobe! Sasuke burrowed his face into his wife's wild locks. Please don't make me take their mother from them, he pleaded silently.

* * *

_**3007**_

There was a shriek and another splash. Sasuke sighed and used his arm to wipe off some of the suds. Tinnu gave an innocent smile and acted as if she had not just splashed her father in the face with soapy water. Arad was laughing beside him until Minuial splashed her. The twins giggled and their laughter was so infectious that Dawn finally cracked and began to laugh as well.

_"I hate bath day,"_ Sasuke sighed as he grabbed the bar of soap from the lid of the tub.

_"'en why we 'ave 'em so much?"_ Sasuke blinked a few times at Tinnu's question, but Arad seemed to figure out what she had been saying first.

_"Well I think you should be bathing every day, but we can't do that,"_ Arad smiled down at their girls with an almost sinister smile, _"Mostly because you two attract dirt like magnets"_

_ "Was magnet?"_ Minuial asked with her head tilted to one side.

_"A magnet is polarized metal that attracts the opposite charge, so dirt is the opposite charge for you two, thus it clings to you," _Sasuke supplied while Arad imitated a fish, _"Also, you take baths frequently because of health reasons, same as why we make you use those strange brushes to clean your teeth."_

Sasuke could not thank the Hobbits enough for teaching them how to make soap, because the soap-maker overpriced his merchandise and they went through pounds of it a day. Toothpaste was harder to make for them, but he and the dobe managed to create something that at least cleaned their teeth. He would not have his daughters looking like those rotten mouthed Middle Earthlings.

_"But Tousan?" _their little five-year-old spoke up, _"No one else takes three baths a week?"_

_ "I still say it should be seven," _Arad spoke and Sasuke chuckled slightly while nodding.

_ "I agree but we don't have the water for that. Besides, weren't you complaining about shoveling the snow for this bath?"_ Arad began to pout and then stuck her tongue out at her husband.

_"Well you grumble when you have to go to the stream, why can't we just use the well water?"_ Sasuke gave his wife a pointed look and after blinking a few times she came to an understanding, _"Right stupid question," _she gave a sheepish laugh and reached for her bar of soap and began rubbing it into her daughter's hair. They still hadn't figure out shampoo but this worked well enough, though it made their hair feel weird.

Sasuke began to wash Tinnu's hair and once it was done he helped her rinse it out of her hair. He then moved onto Dawn who had been washing her body but was always too clumsy and got soap into her eyes if she washed her own hair. Satisfied with their now clean daughters, Arad began to towel off the twins while Sasuke finished rinsing Dawn's hair.

_"Tousan?"_ Dawn asked while her mother struggled with the twins, _"When's Uncle Strider going to visit?"_ Sasuke frowned slightly while he began drying off Dawn.

_"I'm not sure,"_ he whispered in reply and they both stayed silent for a moment until Arad gave a triumphant sound.

_"Ha! One dirt monster all clean and dry!"_ Arad then shoved a nightgown over Tinnu's head, while also making sure Minuial didn't escape into the house naked and wet.

_"Think you can dress yourself?" _Sasuke asked his oldest who nodded her head confidently.

Sasuke moved over and took Minuial from her mother's arms and finished drying her off and getting her night-gown on. _"Thanks," _Arad breathed tiredly. Sasuke just gave a non-committal sound until he looked up at Dawn and began chuckling.

Arad looked up as well and began to snicker. _"Come here Sweet-heart, you have your gown on backwards," _Dawn's face flushed but she moved over to her mother.

Of course at this moment the twins decided to make a break for it. Sasuke shook his head and moved in the blink of an eye to intercept them. They gave surprised shrieks when they ran into their father's legs. _"Now where do you two think you're going? We still have to comb your hair and braid it,"_ the little girls paled and held onto each other.

Sasuke smirked, _"If you behave, I'll be the one to brush and braid your hair,"_ the dobe still did not know how gentle to be with their scalps, but then again, she was hardly gentle with her own scalp. Sasuke winced every time he saw her comb her hair.

_"Yes Tousan!"_ they cried together and walked with their father out of the forge and into the house to sit beside the fireplace.

Sasuke retrieved the comb from his black-smith apron which doubled as Bath Day protection and supplies carrier. Minuial sat before her father first and gently began to pick the comb through her hair. After several snarls it was smooth and then he gestured for Tinnu to sit down. Her hair was easier to comb out, and then he be began to braid it. With Tinnu done, it was Minuial's turn and she fidgeted the whole while.

Sasuke then picked his daughters and moved toward the stair way. He smiled when he saw Arad carefully braiding Dawn's hair in the forge's doorway. _"Tousan, will you wead us a stowy?"_ Minuial asked with wide eyes while Tinnu nodded adamantly.

_"Hmm… I suppose, have I told you about the Long Expected Party?"_ the girls shook their heads and once in their room, he set them down on their bedrolls and stoked the fire, "Well," Sasuke began in westron so that they had practice with the language "A prominent figure in Hobbiton, named Bilbo Bagins was turning one-hundred-and-eleven. The whole Shire had been invited to celebration and plans had been made months in advance. Dwarves came by with full wagons and rode away empty…"

Arad smiled in the door way with Dawn resting against her hip. She watched as her husband told their daughters about Bilbo's party. Something told her he shouldn't be like this, but this was how Dû had always been with their daughters. Yet still, there was that voice at the back of her mind that told her this wasn't how her husband should be acting. He shouldn't be gentle, he shouldn't be indulgent, yet that was how he had always been when it came to their children.

She bit her lip, why was that little voice so insistent and so amazed, even she felt amazed every time she saw him interact with them. Dawn was nodding off and Dû was near the end of the story. The twins were about to drop off too. Arad smiled and moved into the room and set her eldest down in her bed roll. Dû gave her a small smile and nodded his head.

"…and then he vanished." Sasuke got up and stooped down to kiss each of his daughter's on the forehead, while Arad followed behind him and tucked them in as well as kissed them.

Sasuke gently closed the door and as soon as they heard it click in place they both sighed. _"Bath?"_ Arad asked with a haggard smile. Sasuke was hesitant to bathe with her, but he too was exhausted from taking care of those three and he was grimy from the forge. If he didn't take a bath with her then he would have to wait later, and he just wanted his sleep. He was twenty-four and being a father of three was already taking its toll.

_"Sure,"_ Arad gave him a surprised look but it melted away and she hugged him. _"That doesn't mean sex,"_

_ "I know, I'm just glad,"_ Arad then practically dragged him into the forge, _"Wanna reheat the damn thing"_

Sasuke gave a monosyllabic response but formed a few seals and channeled his fire aligned chakra to heat up the water in the tub. They then stripped and stepped into the steaming water. In unions they sighed.

_"I could stay this way forever,"_ Arad moaned before she reached over into her apron lying crumpled beside the tub. She pulled out a bar of soap and began to wash.

_"How does Boxwillow do it?" _Sasuke asked as he found himself washing Arad's back for her. This was just like in Crickhollow before he regained his memories.

_"You mean the family with nine kids?" _Arad asked over her shoulder and received a nod in response, _"No idea, can you imagine finding enough food let alone preparing enough for eleven people?"_

_"You eat like eleven people," _Arad splashed him in retaliation but they both began to laugh at the truth in the statement. Before long they were both clean but they continued to soak in the tub.

_"Sometimes I want another child but I don't know how we could do that?" _ Arad stated with a sigh while Sasuke groaned and sunk beneath the water a little more.

_"Arad,"_

_ "I know, I know"_ she waved her hand dismissively before she stood up, _"Shall we go to be my celibate husband?" _ Sasuke rolled his eyes and stood up as well.

_"Hn, and how are you not celibate? Going behind me?" _he smirked and quirked an eyebrow, he knew that was not the case but it was always fun to push the dobe's buttons, and that was sure to cause her to blush and splutter indignantly.

Sasuke toweled off calmly while his wife sputtered. It was music to his ears.

* * *

_**3008**_

Dawn was being a ninja, just like Tousan said she should be like. She giggled as she jumped onto the next roof. She was so high up, she could see over the wall, and…and was that Uncle Strider! It was! It was Ojisan. She knew it from the way he walked and the cloak he wore. Even from so far away, it just had to be Uncle Strider. With all her six-year-old might and a little chakra, she raced across the roofs and jumped onto the town wall. She then used chakra to crawl down the wall.

Once on solid ground, she took off toward her Uncle, who had been busy for some time now. He would just leave for whole years and then turn up out of the blue. Kaasan and Tousan said Uncle Strider had missions to do all around the world. She hoped Ojisan would stay for a little while this time, she hoped he would teach her how to use her bow now. She was six after all, she ought to be big enough now.

Dawn faltered in her running, she thought she had heard something. She looked around for a moment but didn't see anything so she continued running toward where she knew her Ojisan was. Then she heard something again. She stopped running and looked around once more. She had entered the tree-line so she could see even less than she could have before. And then she heard the noise again.

She gasped and took a step backwards. There was the sound again! She looked around, now scared. It sounded like a dog but much scarier. She looked around again and took a hesitant step toward her uncle when she saw it. It was big, and furry, and it was snarling at her.

It lunged at her and she managed to jump out of the way, but the thing came at her again. It was bigger than any dog she had seen and it was snapping its jaws at her. She gave a startled scream and tried running backwards, away from it.

It lunged at her again and caught hold of her arm and knocked her to the forest floor. She cried out and felt around on the ground for anything. She fingered a jagged rock and held it tightly in her hand while the creature tugged at her arm. Dawn then began to bash the rock into the beast's head until it let go. She scrambled backwards, but the thing moved so fast, she wasn't sure she could keep avoiding it.

And then… then the thing looked like it was slowing down, or maybe she was moving faster. She kept dodging it but it kept snapping at her. Her arm hurt so badly and all the moving made it hurt more. Though she could dodge the thing, she didn't think she could get away from it.

"Dawn!" she turned to the startled voice and saw her Tousan with his spinning red eyes. But in her moment of distraction the creature caught hold of her again, but this time in the leg. She could hear her father scream along with her, and then the beast was wrenched off of her leg. She watched in horror as her father repeatedly slashed at the creature with a kunai. It was dead after the first to slashes but then he continued to stab the creature.

Blood quickly soaked her father and some of it even splattered onto her. Tousan was shaking and eventually he dropped his kunai. Her father turned to look at her with those spinning and bleeding eyes. He stared at her for moment, horror still written on his face, and then he closed his eyes. He seemed to move so slowly to her, and she quickly understood why.

_"Congratulations Dawn, you activated your sharingan,"_ he kissed her on the forehead, consequently smearing blood on her. It was at that moment that they heard howling. Her father suddenly jerked into action. He scooped her up and jumped into the trees. _"You need to stop putting chakra into your eyes. You can't show your mother your sharingan."_

_ "Why?"_ her father frowned as he moved back toward the town.

_"Because it might trigger her memories and…," _he licked his lips but then spat out the blood he must have forgotten covered his face. _"I'm not sure what will happen when she does remember the past, okay?" _ Dawn frowned but nodded quickly.

_"Why were you out of the village, I told you to practice inside of the village," _Dawn tensed at the anger in her father's voice, and she looked down in sudden shame. She had disobeyed her parents.

_"I-I wanted to greet Ojisan,"_ she stated in small voice. Her father sighed and landed in a crouch on the town wall.

_"You should have come back home and told me, I would have gone with you and you wouldn't have been attacked,"_ Her father swiftly jumped onto the nearest roof and hurried to their home. He then landed in crouch once more, but this time in their backyard. He gently set her by the water-well before began retrieving water from the well.

With the adrenaline wearing off, Dawn could feel her injuries more acutely. She bit her lip and took deep breaths through her nose. It hurt so much. Her father was beside her again and he was gently rinsing the bit marks.

_"Oh Gods, what happened?!"_ Kaasan was in the doorway of the forge, she had a pitcher in her hand and she was likely moving to refill it from the well. At her alarmed words, Tinnu, Minuial, and Ojisan appeared.

"Uncle Strider!" Dawn cried in excitement and nearly forgot about her injuries until her father set the rag back against her skin. She cried out in pain and ducked her head.

"An abnormally large wolf happened," Tousan growled out so that they could all understand, "And again, you should have come back home and I could have gone with you to greet Strider."

Ojisan gave an inaudible gasp and she instantly saw guilt flash across his face. No, it wasn't his fault - it was all her fault. Biting her lip, she bowed her head and did her best to hold back her tears. It wasn't Ojisan's fault, it wasn't, so why did it look like he was he blaming himself?

"And why do you look like you killed an army?" Kaasan sounded amused and Dawn looked up to see her Tousan duck his head in embarrassment.

"I may have…lost it, for a moment," his halting speech and the fact he was soaked in blood made Dawn laugh and apparently her mother was laughing too.

"See girls, your father is so overprotective he goes into homicidal rages," Kaasan patted the twins on the head and then moved over Tousan and kissed him on the temple. She didn't seem to mind the blood.

"I almost feel sorry for any suitors you three have," she laughed and then kissed her husband on the cheek. It was hard to tell whether Tousan was blushing or not, but Dawn had a feeling he was blushing.

"I have some medicinal herbs, if I could steep them they may help with the healing process," Ojisan stated from his place by the door. He then retrieved the pitcher from Kaasan and quickly filled it up.

Dawn sighed and her father got back to cleaning her wounds, it really hurt! Though her father was trying to be as gentle as possible; he even did this weird green chakra thing with his hands once Ojisan went back inside.

Sasuke sighed and repeated the healing jutsu he used on Dawn's arm with her leg. Unfortunately, it appeared that the wolf had actually managed to damage the bone in her leg. He had mended the torn muscle easily enough in the arm, but he was by no means a medic-nin. By the time Strider returned with a steaming bowl of some sweet smelling fragrance, most of the wound had been closed up.

"The blood must have made it seem worse than it was," Sasuke could hear confusion in the ranger's voice, and he briefly hoped the man would not question him. Though he had acted as healer several times for the man and his Dúnedain, he had made sure to keep his medical jutsus hidden from them. It would be too fantastical for the rangers to believe.

"Hn," Sasuke jerked slightly when he felt a wet rag touch his face. He then noticed his wife dabbing away at the mostly dry blood.

_"You look like a horror show,"_ Arad stated dryly, and for a moment he wondered if this was the dobe from Konoha, but he knew his wife had yet to regain her memories.

Almost eight years had passed and she still didn't remember their past lives. Was the Kyuubi keeping her from remembering? For what purpose? But then he only had to remember the night before and he could imagine what the fox was aiming at. It wanted a chance to break out of its container, and the easiest way was when the seal weakened during pregnancy. Hence the repeated efforts to bed him, the fox was probably spewing lies that dug at her self-consciousness. Even after their talk two years ago, his wife continued to try and seduce him though with less urgency. Regardless, it was truly testing his self-restraint.

_"Like you can talk,"_ Sasuke scoffed and rubbed his thumb against her bloody lips, _"You look like a vampire," _He then saw that glint in her eye and he quickly duck out of the way from what likely was going to be a kiss, or an imitation of a vampire biting his neck.

_"Oh come on!" _she cried and tried to kiss him again, _"I'm your wife! I'm allowed to neck you!"_ Sasuke could not help but chuckle and began to dance out of her way. It had always been amusing to irritate the dobe when they were genin and it was still amusing.

He knew their girls were confused, and he knew they wondered why their parents didn't kiss like other parents in the town. Unlike the other mothers and fathers, the other mothers weren't originally very straight men and their husbands weren't trying to kill them.

Strider was looking at them like they were insane, but thankfully he did not understand what they were saying. Dawn was frowning, as were the twins. He sighed and stopped dancing and grabbed his wife by her hips. He gave her a quick peck on the lips and moved into the house. He'd finish cleaning up in his room.

Aragorn turned his attention back to cleaning the shallow wounds on Dawn's arm and leg. He then began to carefully wrap the wounds in cloth he kept in case of injuries. Dawn had her head bowed and she looked embarrassed.

_"You're very lucky, _Dawn_,"_ he stated in sindarin as he finished the wrappings.

_"I know,"_ she paused after replying in Elvish and had her brow scrunched up in thought, she sighed and continued speaking in Westron "Daddy probably noticed I wasn't in the town…" Strider hummed in response and helped the girl to her feet.

Arad was still standing in the place she had been kissed at, and her hand touched her lips in shock. Was it really so strange? Then again, the smith had confessed that his wife would likely kill him when she regained her memories. She would kill him because he had had sex with her. It was hard to believe, but he knew the blacksmith truly feared the day his wife would regain her memories. Of course the man never showed his fear, only concern. Aragorn sighed again.

He helped Dawn to her feet but she fell back down with a cry. It was at this moment that Dû returned with clean clothes on, but he was still scrubbing at his face to get rid of the blood. "Right, the wolf damaged some of the bone so, Dawn you need to stay off that leg," he then picked the girl up and set her against his hip.

"What?!" Dawn cried out in disappointment. Strider still believed the girl had been extremely lucky, "But I had hoped…" her words faltered and she looked down.

"What'd you hope?" Minuial asked her older sister and moved up and down excitedly beside them as they moved back inside.

Arad seemed to snap back to attention and picked up her two four-year-olds. Aragorn followed the family inside the house and watched with mild amusement at their interactions. They were such a lively family and he truly wished them the peace Dû hoped for.

"I-I hoped…Uncle Strider would teach me archery," Strider blinked a few times and was taken aback by the girl's statement.

Never in his seventy-eight years would he have imagined a little girl wanting him to teach her how to fight. It was strange, but then Aragorn already knew the blacksmiths were teaching their daughters how to fight. It was just surprising to be considered a teacher, and perhaps even more surprising that he was actually considering **teaching** her.

And though he still found it odd for her to be fighting, he only needed to look at her and realize she did need to learn how to protect herself; especially, if she chose to continue acting so impulsively. He also was partly to blame for her injury. He seldom sent missives and he would be gone for such long stretches at a time. It was no wonder she ran off to greet him, regardless of the danger.

_"I can still teach you,"_ he stated in sindarin. The way her face lit up made his chest swell slightly. She really was like a niece to him, and though he was at first alarmed by her claiming him to be her uncle, he had warmed up to the idea. In fact, he saw all three of them as his nieces.

He wanted to protect them from the dangers of the world, especially the dangers in the East. His Grey Company would not always be in this area, and when their protection left dangers may come forward. It would be best little Dawn and her sisters could protect themselves, for so often children were separated from their parents during such times.

Dû was watching him with an eyebrow quirked and a slight smirk on his face, "I'm assuming you agreed?" Aragorn nodded and the man's smirk grew, "Good, neither of us understand how to use a bow."

Arad chuckled behind them, and Dû kissed Dawn's forehead when she ducked her head at his previous statement. Tinnu and Minuial were frowning from where they rested against their mother's hip.

"I wanna learn too!" Minuial demanded and Tinnu nodded her head adamantly.

Arad looked at her twins and hummed before she began to smirk. Dû looked over at his wife and he took a hesitant step back while shaking his head. What could be the matter, Aragorn wondered.

_"No,"_ Dû spoke in his strange language while shaking his head, but Arad was nodding her head.

_"Yes! It will be perfect!"_

_ "No, it will be a health hazard," _at this point Dawn began to laugh behind her hands while her parents seemed to argue in their native tongue.

_ "Oh please, we started to teach Dawn how to handle kunai when she was two. They are long past due to-"_

_ "Dawn wasn't a little demon!" _ At this comment the two four-year-olds began to whine, and Aragorn wished for the millionth time that he understood their strange tongue.

_"Tousan!" _the twins whined, and Aragorn was familiar enough with this word to know it was how they addressed their father.

_"Your father has a point," _Arad said something which caused the two girls in her arms to look up at her wounded, _"Which is why I think you should learn!" _The twins gave a triumphant noise while Dawn outright laughed and Dû grimaced.

_"You get to repair the house when they destroy it,"_ Aragorn sighed and leaned against a wall, he would never know what happened, though he looked over at the still laughing Dawn in hope that she could translate.

She caught his look and gave an impish smile, _"Mother want to teach sisters throwing. Father say bad thinking because…"_ Dawn's face contorted in thought as she tried to think of how to finish her thought in sindarin. It probably had not helped that he had been absent for so long and her education in the language was often halted. She also did not have a conversation partner, which hindered her acquisition of the language further.

"Translating?" Arad asked in an amused tone, at Dawn's nod Arad laughed and gave a broad smile, "Dû thinks our twin terrors shouldn't learn how to use projectiles, but I think it's a perfect idea!"

"I think they should learn but when they have less destructive energy." Aragorn chuckled slightly at the blacksmith's almost defensive reply.

"What? When they're fifty?" Arad asked with in wry tone and a quirked eyebrow.

Dû gave his wife a deadpan expression "Perhaps when they stop acting like they're on a sugar high twenty-four-seven," Aragorn cocked his head to the side at the strange expression and wondered what it meant, though he could work out that it was a comment on how energetic the twins were.

"I think it would be a great way to harness all that energy," Arad defended her claim with a decidedly mischievous grin, "That or I could teach them how to make traps."

Dû actually seemed to pale for a moment and he began to shake his head. "They make good enough traps without being taught by you," his voice was even but Aragorn thought he saw a flash of panic or even dread at the prospect.

Arad chuckled in response and her eyes flashed in an almost sinister way. Aragorn felt afraid for a moment and dread began to settle in his stomach. Was the woman truly so dangerous with traps? Dû's reaction – no matter how slight – would suggest that was the case. By the Valar, where did these people come from? Would they ever stop tempting him? All the feats they could do made him want to beg for their assistance in the battle against the Eye, but he had promised Dû and himself to not draw this family into the war. He would stay true to his word, though it was so tempting.

"Yes, well…shall we begin lessons then?" Aragorn pushed himself off the wall after making that suggestion, and Dû sighed while his wife and twin daughters cackled. Dawn was attempting to not laugh but so far had failed.

The blacksmith walked over to Aragorn and handed him his daughter before moving toward the forge, "I'll get the targets," he gave a suffering sigh and picked up straw stuffed dummies. They were already using human shaped targets. Well…that was a shock and the dummies had painted targets on them. Why couldn't they just paint targets on the town wall?

Arad was saying something to her daughters, "Now, there are two targets your father refused to paint on the dummies, but they're both in-between where the legs meet the body. It's lethal with exploding tag, but also a good way to distract enemies and buy time if they're male," her voice was disturbingly cheerful and the three began to cackle again.

_"Did-did your mother give you that same speech?" _Aragorn asked in sindarin to the girl resting on his hip. Dawn nodded adamantly and gave him a smile that had a few teeth missing - was she already growing her adult teeth, had he really missed that much time?

Though, Aragorn was even more disturbed that these young girls were already being trained to... to aim below the belt. He shuddered involuntarily at such a dishonorable and painful strategy.

_"Don't aim at those places with your bow and arrows. The best way to immobilize your target would be the legs, and the neck is the best place to aim for kills unless you have enough force to pierce the skull and heart," _Aragorn sighed and almost could not believe what he was telling the young girl. But then, there was no point keeping this information from her when she had clearly been taught how to kill with those strange throwing knives her parents used.

Dawn had her brow furrowed and she asked him what several of the words he used meant so he repeated the second part of his instructions back to her in westron. She then picked out certain words and repeated them back to him in sindarin. She truly did pick up languages quickly, seemingly like her father.

Dû had already planted the dummies several yards away from them and now brought out a stool and Dawn's bow and arrows. It was a crude bow but that was expected since Arad, a blacksmith, had made it; though, the woman had sanded the bow so that it was as smooth as silk.

"Do you mind if I teach your daughter in sindarin? It would be good practice for her," Aragorn asked the father who was watching his every move. Dû gave a noncommittal sound and leaned against the house and watched Aragorn situate Dawn on the stool.

_"He said yes,"_ Dawn stated with a smile and held up her bow but winced.

_"Your arm hurts?"_ Aragorn looked at Dû who had spoken at the same time that Aragorn had. Dawn laughed at them, which the ranger took to mean that he and the blacksmith had asked her the same question.

"I'll be fine, and I'll stop when it hurts too much," Dû gave dawn a look that Aragorn could not quite discern but after a moment the blacksmith turned away with a smirk on his face.

_"I promise Tousan,"_she stated in their native language, but before he could question what she said she turned to him and spoke in sindarin, _"I promise stop when hurting,"_ Aragorn chuckled and corrected her speech. She smiled and repeated back the phrase.

Aragorn straightened and retrieved his bow from his back and began to instruct the girl in how to notch a bow. She fumbled but that was to be expected, it was a foreign motion for her but Aragorn had faith she would become comfortable with it soon.

Sasuke watched the ranger and his wife instruct their daughters in two very different projectiles. The dobe was a surprisingly good instructor, perhaps because she had learned through hands on experience and could explain the process back to their children? Strider seemed proficient enough at teaching, though Sasuke still was not sure what exactly he was saying.

Sasuke could not help but have reservations at his youngest daughters handling kunai. His mind supplied image after image of the impaling themselves on the blades because they tripped while running around, or they might injure clients with the blades. Not to mention the two little demons would probably come up with traps that now involved kunai. Honestly, those girls seemed to have inherited all of their mother's most dangerous characteristics and talents.

Sasuke barely refrained from wincing when he saw Tinnu make a successful hit to the groin of the dummy. Arad was praising the little girl, of course. It wouldn't be long before Arad would teach the little demons about explosive tags and adding them to the Sennen Goroshi. He shuddered at the thought.

Gods have mercy on their assailants that they would not die such a humiliating death.

Sasuke wasn't sure if he should be proud or afraid that his daughters were picking up throwing kunai so quickly. Maybe he should step in and show them shuriken? The dobe had never been as proficient as him when it came to throwing them. Bolstering up his resolve, he would give his precious girls more ammunition while their older sister was being taught how to use her bow.

* * *

_A Suivre_

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry if that was dull and painful to read, but the next chapter is when Arad regains her memories! So hopefully I haven't lost anyone I just wanted to get more character/relational development out of the way. Time skips went, two years, one year, and one year. I might keep this time skip pattern for the next two chapters, but I'm not sure. Again, I won't be updating until May-ish, so until then, I hope you enjoyed this domestic chapter ~ with love, depressedchildren


	6. Chapter 6: Fragility

_**Disclaimer:**_I do not own either works, nor do I profit from posting this but in terms of writing experience. The characters and plot belong to their respective creators and companies.

_**Full Summary:**_ It was to be the final showdown, the battle that would free him from his blonde shadow. But when was anything straightforward with the dobe; yet he would not change what happened for anything in the world. When that cheerful little man said he was to meant to protect and marry Nature's daughter (as he did with Goldberry), Sasuke never expected to finally have the family, the _children_, he had dreamed of as a genin. But now he finds his family being taken from his grasp as they are pulled into the struggles of the free peoples against the Power in the East. _**WARNINGS:**_ amnesia, OC's, character death (not a likable character), gender-bending.

**A/N: **I'm updating early due to a freak snow storm that got classes canceled and being caught up for once, I decided to edit this chapter and a add a few more things to it. So Sasuke and Naruto may seem a little OOC in this chapter. But bear in mind that one of them would lay his life down for his children, and to see them in a state of distress without being able to help would be utterly frustrating. The other one is dealing with a surge of memories and identity issues.

Also...I don't want to weird anyone out with the rapport between Dawn and Haldarad so here's a little disclaimer. At that time period (or equivalent one in our world) people weren't expected to live very long (though being part uzumaki and being a dunedian does grant these characters with exceptional longevity, they were raised in this time period and there are social expectations - not saying anything will happen because Sasuke is Dawn's father but still it wasn't uncommon for 13 or 14 year-olds to be married).

Anyways, thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, or put this on alert. Thank you & enjoy ~ depresedchildren

**Key: **

"Words" westron

"_Words"_ another language being spoken (i.e. sidarian or Japanese)

_Kusanagi_ a sign or title (i.e. _Prancing Pony_).

* * *

Chapitre 6

* * *

_**3010**_

Minuial sighed for what felt like the **hundredth **time. She heard her mother chuckle below her, and watched as her mother tilted her head backwards to regard her. The six-year-old continued to sit on the ceiling like it was the floor as she watched her mother work the forge.

Kaasan smiled, _"You've up there for ten minutes, why don't you get down before you exhaust yourself, hmm?"_

_ "Okay,"_ Minuial gave a long suffering sigh. Using chakra to strengthen her legs, she dropped down from the ceiling, while flipping mid-air, to land in a crouch. She straightened up and directed a broad smile - much like the one being directed at her - to her mother as Minuial moved closer to the forge. She couldn't keep herself from bouncing in place because if she wasn't fidgeting she would have been talking a mile a minute, but if she did **that,** she might talk about Tousan teaching Tinnu kenjutsu. And Tousan said Kaasan must never know about it.

She huffed in irritation, where was Ojisan, why did he have to be gone for so long?! He was the one teaching her how to use her dual swords, even though the dao blades Tousan made were just as foreign to Ojisan as they were to Tousan. She still wanted to know who this person was that used dao blades against her father, but he always waved her question off like that opponent was inconsequential. Though…that was possible, Tousan was the bestest swordsman she knew, even better than Ojisan!

Chewing her lip, Minuial took out the trench knives Kaasan made for her. She then went through katas, pretending to spin into her opponents guard like she saw Tousan do when sparring with Ojisan and Halbarad-san. She had always liked playing with Beardy-san - that's what she called Monkey's son – so Kaasan made her trench knives just like Beardy-san.

Minuial made a hard swipe with her left-handed knife as she pretended to block an attack with the right one. She then used her left hand to punch her imaginary opponent in the gut with the ridged part of her knife before raking the blade part across the imaginary opponent's stomach. She always found it amazing how Tousan and Kaasan could get into anyone's defense to attack with just kunai. That's why she liked these close range weapons, because it was so fast paced and her parents had to be on their toes to keep from getting hurt.

Tinnu could keep her stupid katana and tanto, and her special training with Tousan! Dawn could keep her sharingan training with Tousan too, who wanted that stupid doujutsu anyway!

Minuial began to sniff and eventually she threw her trench knives to the ground and began to sob. It wasn't fair! Tinnu got to have special training with Tousan and she didn't even have the eyes yet, and Dawn – she got to train with Ojisan and members of the Grey Company. It wasn't fair. Minuial didn't get any special training when Ojisan was gone, and he'd been gone for over a year!

_"Sweet-heart, what's wrong?" _ Minuial felt her mother wrap her arms around her, and it felt so nice that the little six-year-old twisted around in the embrace and sobbed onto her mother's shoulder.

Kaasan repeated the question, and Minuial gave a few gasping breaths before she sobbed out her answer, _"I-I don't g-get special training!"_

Kaasan was frowning when she pulled Minuial away, _"What do you mean special training?"_ Minuial froze, oh no! She wasn't supposed to say that. She looked down and tried to come up with something.

_"T-tousan's teaching Tinnu and Dawn how to hunt b-but he says I'm too noisy to go with them," _Minuial sniffed and wiped at her eyes. Kaasan gave an understanding nod and then gave her a bright smile.

_"Then how about I teach you how to garden?!" _Kaasan looked so excited that Minuial could not help but also feel excited. Minuial was picked up by her mother and set against her hip. Kaasan then removed what she was forging from the furnace, and once they were in the shop, she flipped the "open" sign to "closed." Kaasan then took her outside to the garden and set her down.

Minuial listened with rapt attention as her mother explained the art of growing cabbages and carrots, harvesting spinach and radishes, digging up potatoes, and picking ripe tomatoes. She also taught her how to de-tassel the few corn stalks they in their garden. It was fun to play in the dirt and once they harvested some of the vegetables, Kaasan explained how to store seeds and when to plant. It was surprisingly fun, especially since Kaasan made funny voices and played with the vegetables. Kaasan liked to talk to the plants too, it was really fun!

Minuial got to carry the basket from their harvest into the house all by herself, and then Kaasan gave her a really fun smile. _"How about we play tag?" _Minuial nodded her head adamantly, but the smile fell when Kaasan taped her on the forehead, _"You're it!"_ and then Kaasan was out of the house and heading toward the forest. Minuial gave a shriek of laughter as she chased after her mother.

Sasuke smiled to himself as he watched his daughters practice their respective skills. He had had his reservations about teaching his youngest children how to use weapons, but over the last two years, the twins had mellowed a little…sort of. They were a horror when together, but Tinnu did prove to take after him in personality more than her sister. Minuial was hyperactive to almost the nth degree, but she had her moments like the dobe of deadly seriousness. Tinnu also had moments of hyperactivity, but usually only when in company with her sister, and thank the gods for that. Two mini-Narutos would have been hell.

Sasuke chuckled slightly. The weapons his daughters chose fit them so well. Dawn was sharp and observant, a perfect archer. Minuial practically bounced off the wall and was slippery as a snake, which made her natural with short range weapons like trench knives, but she was also wild which made dual weapons almost natural for her. Then Tinnu… just was wily as her twin but usually more reserved, she was a mid-range fighter. He was flattered she wanted to learn kenjutsu, and unlike Minuial she did have patience for the art, though there were times she lost her natural finesse and acted like the dobe – thankfully that was only when she was frustrated.

They worked flawless as a team and if they were in the ninja world they would have been a perfect genin team. He hoped their chakra control would be strong enough that he could start teaching them elements. He wouldn't be surprised if Minuial was wind like her mother, what with her vivacity and natural fluidity. Tinnu he suspected might also have wind, but he was not sure. Sometimes he wondered if she was fire or lightening, maybe even water – he thought the dobe also had a water affinity. Sasuke was almost positive Dawn had a lightning affinity.

However, he would never know for certain what his daughters' elemental types were without testing paper. He had no clue how to recreate it, though if the dobe had her memories she likely would figure out a way. Though it was for the best she was still in the dark. He shook his head to clear away such thoughts and focused in on his daughters.

Dawn was trying to keep track of his clone with her sharingan. She was also tasked with evading the clone while also trying to hit it with her arrows; however, he made sure she stayed within the clearing so there would be no repeats of two years ago.

Tinnu was practicing her katas with another clone while Sasuke surveyed both of their progress. He wished he didn't have to send Minuial back when he had to train Tinnu in her kenjutsu and Dawn in her sharingan. However, someone had to keep an eye on Arad lest she happen upon their training. He couldn't always trust on sensing her arrival - since she was a trickster and he did not put it past the dobe to mask her chakra, even when she was not conscious of doing so.

Sasuke smirked and jumped down from the tree limb he had been observing them from. _"Two on one spar?"_ his girls knew they couldn't hurt him and so nodded readily. They had had reservations the first time he suggested it, but after a few infuriating Kawarimi no jutsu, they changed their tune.

He unsheathed his K_usanagi_ and quickly dove out of the way of an arrow. Tinnu charged at him and their swords clashed. She let off and spun around him on the right with her tanto out and ready to stab him. At the same time that Tinnu was spinning around him to stab his back, Dawn let loose an arrow from his left and quickly moved to throw a kunai at his front.

He felt so proud of his girls, and if Minuial was here with her blades or knives, Sasuke knew he would be in trouble. They all worked brilliantly together, and so with a smirk, Sasuke substituted with a log – much to his daughters' irritation.

He chuckled and dodged a kunai, courtesy of Tinnu who left her tanto in the log, and three arrows. He never actively fought his daughters, he mostly just played mouse while they played cats. Though he would make defensive moves, and occasionally tap them on the forehead if he got within their guard.

As he leapt across the clearing his eyes widened in shock and he barely caught himself from hitting a tree head-first. He landed on the ground and rolled to lessen the impact, before he quickly substituted with a log as his daughters launched more projectiles at him. Sasuke ordered his clones to grab Tinnu and Dawn and place them behind him.

_"Minuial, get over here,"_ Minuial cast a worried glance up at her frozen mother before she skirted around her and moved to stand beside her twin.

_"I'm sorry Tousan, we were playing tag and then Kaasan started to head over here,"_ Minuial's lip was trembling and she sounded on the verge of tears, perhaps because of how cold Sasuke had sounded. He just nodded and swallowed thickly.

_"I'm not mad, just stay behind the clones," _Sasuke could see emotion after emotion flit across his wife's eyes, and all the while she looked horrified. He took a few careful steps forward.

_"Tousan, what's wrong with Kaasan?"_ Tinnu asked timidly beside her sister.

Dawn was fingering an arrow she had pulled out of the quiver before the clone grabbed her. What Sasuke wouldn't give to read his eldest's mind right now? She had always been perceptive and she knew his implicit fear of when her mother would regain her memories.

Sasuke held his free hand up in response to Tinnu's question and he continued his careful approach. It looked like the dobe was coming to the end of the surge of memories. One hand was clutching her chest, exactly where Sasuke had drove his chidori through before he lost control of his chakra.

The dobe's eyes cleared up and instantly zeroed in on Sasuke. Rage read first in the dobe's toad like eyes, then betrayal. The blonde snarled and just as Sasuke had feared, red began to seep into her eyes. In response he activated his eternal sharingan, which only seemed to enrage her further.

That sinister red chakra began to coat her but it was flickering around her body, as if it was struggling to come to the surface.

_"What the hell have you done to me!?"_ the dobe roared as finally red chakra coated her hands to form claws. He was frozen like in his recurring nightmare.

_"Kaasan!"_ the twins cried out in worry, and Sasuke's clones had to grab the two six-year-olds, lest they run toward the dobe and she strike them down. Sasuke looked over his shoulder and saw fear in Dawn's eyes while the twins only looked concerned. Dawn must be able to feel the darkness and killing intent within the chakra better than the twins could.

The dobe's gaze flickered over to their children and a pained expression came over her. She gritted her teeth and growled. _"Damn it, Teme! Why did you do this to me? You've ruined my life, my dreams, everything!"_ tears streamed down her face and Sasuke brought up his chokutō.

_"I will not let you hurt them,"_ his throat felt tight for some reason, but he locked his gaze on the enraged jinchuuriki.

The dobe clutched at her head and a chakra tail began to form. She seemed to have greater trouble bringing forth the Kyuubi's chakra than in the past, perhaps because she was constantly in sage mode?

She continued to sob and pull at her hair. Perhaps she wouldn't kill their children like he thought she would. _"Naruto?" _he called tentatively, and lowered his sword slightly as he took a step forward. _"I never meant for any of this to happen,"_

The dobe's head shot up and pure rage colored her face, _"What! For me to regain my memories? Were you happy with me being some dopey little wife, is that it Sasuke?! Is that it you bastard! Did you feel proud of yourself for fucking me? Was this your fucking plan all along!"_

Sasuke didn't dodge in time as a chakra claw took a swipe at his side. He jumped backward and raised his blade up in spite of his wound. _"No Dobe, I-"_

_ "NO! J-just stay the fuck away from me!"_ she screamed as she turned around and began to run away. Her chakra cloak was beginning to fade away and before long he could not feel any of the sinister chakra, let alone the dobe's chakra.

Sasuke sunk to the ground and took a deep breath through his nose. His daughters were silent behind him, likely in shock. He grimaced and began to circulate healing chakra into his hand to mend the torn muscles at his side.

He couldn't chase after Arad-No! Naruto, she was Naruto now– he couldn't chase after Naruto and she would just destroy any clones he sent. The girls had to be watched but Aragorn was not here, and Sasuke trusted no one else with his daughters - not even Halbarad.

He knew where the dobe would go and if she wasn't going to kill their daughters while in a rage, then he knew what she was going to do. Naruto would consume herself with finding a way back to Konoha, but if the dobe thinks he'll uproot his family and be dragged back to the fucking place – she was dead wrong and more idiotic than Sasuke gave the dobe credit for.

He would have to wait for Aragorn to return to confront the jinchuuriki, but the ranger was to be gone for a long time. He left a year ago with the clear mission of searching for a creature named Gollum up from vales of Anduin down to the confines of Mordor. Sasuke didn't expect to see the ranger for several years yet.

The muscle was patched up but he was too tired to bother with the skin. He would stitch it himself. He felt drained but not in a physical way, though it certainly made his limbs feel heavy and numb. He slowly stood up and walked back toward his daughters.

_"T-tousan!"_ Minuial cried in distress and reached up her arms for her father.

_"Why aren't you going after Ka-Kaasan!?"_ Tinnu demanded and even stomped her foot as he picked up Minuial instead of turning around and bringing back their mother. _"Go after her!"_ she screamed and stomped her foot again. Gods, he had hoped he didn't have to deal with tantrums any more but here this was.

Sasuke deactivated his sharingan, but only because he felt a pressure building up behind his eyes that he vainly chose to believe was chakra exhaustion - even though his reserves were at half. He picked up his screaming daughter who tried to fight him while her twin sobbed into Sasuke's shirt. Dawn looked numb and had let go of her bow and arrow.

_"Kaasan regained her memories, didn't she?"_ Dawn asked in a wavering voice.

Sasuke wetted his lips and swallowed against the lump in his throat, damn it dobe, look what you're doing to our children! _"Yes."_

Dawn looked down at the ground while Tinnu continued to scream at Sasuke to go get their mother and Minuial cried. _"Why does she hate you?"_ Dawn asked softly, but Sasuke caught her words.

_"Why don't we head home,"_ Sasuke stated as he ignored Dawn's question and began to move toward village. That was his past. He wasn't that kind of man anymore, though if the dobe planned on dragging them back to Konoha, he would have put back on that mantel.

When Dawn didn't follow him, a clone picked her up and the other clone stayed behind to retrieve weapons.

_"No! NO! No! Go get Kaasan!"_ Tinnu screamed and began to bang her fists against Sasuke's chest, but he continued moving toward the village. "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" she screamed in westron, and each step became harder.

_"Tousan, why won't you go after her?" _Minuial sobbed while her sister continued her mantra.

_"I can't leave you three alone,"_ he swallowed thickly and took a shaky breath. He had to remember that Tinnu didn't mean what she was saying; she was just shocked and angry. She didn't mean it.

_"We can go with you?" _Dawn whispered behind them and motioned for the clone to put her down. It did and she began walking beside Sasuke with her black eyes wide and almost imploring.

"I hate you! I hate you! I'll hate you forever if you don't bring Mommy back!"

_"Yeah! Yeah! We can go with you!"_

_ "Tousan?"_

"I hate you!"

Sasuke couldn't take it, _"What if she kills you?!" _he regretted yelling as the silence fell, and he should have stopped himself but his fears and anxieties began to tumble out of his mouth _"What if she wants to leave. I won't go back there, they'll use you or kill you. I won't let that happen…"_

_ "Kaasan doesn't want us?" _ Minuial asked in a small, horrified voice. Tinnu repeated her sister's words and began to sob against Sasuke's chest.

_ "I-I," _Sasuke couldn't move forward any further and was at a loss for words, _"I don't know,"_ he whispered. Dawn gasped and raced off ahead of him, but thankfully they were in view of the town wall. _"I don't know," _Sasuke repeated again and again. He felt his shirt quickly soaking from his youngest daughters' tears. Each time he repeated the phrase, his daughters held onto him tighter and cried harder. He, himself, felt his throat closing up and his eyes stinging worse and worse.

They held onto him so tightly that decided to chance a body flicker. His legs felt so heavy and he just didn't see himself making it back to the house.

Dawn was on her bed mat, seemingly asleep but crying. There was an inkwell beside her and sheaves of paper scattered about her. Her wobbly westron scrawl was almost unintelligible with the tear stains and ink splatters.

Sasuke set the twins on their bedrolls and tucked them under the sheets. They wrapped their arms around their pillows and quickly succumbed to sleep despite their tears. Sasuke picked up one of the pieces of paper and slowly read it.

Uncle,

Mother regained her memories, she attacked Father, she doesn't want us. She – She - And Father won't doing anything. Mother hates him, I-

Sasuke stopped reading and let the paper float down to the floor. He knew it wouldn't be sent, for they did not know where Aragorn was. Dawn simply wrote those letters for a therapeutic effect. At least that was what he was telling himself.

He moved numbly to his room and grabbed the sewing kit. Sasuke removed his shirt absentmindedly and threaded the needle as he sat heavily on the bed. He began suturing himself, but his vision began to blur. Before he knew it, he let the needle go and he found himself crying for the first time in over a decade.

_"Gods damn it, Naruto"_ he choked out as he cried into his hand. He didn't know what the dobe thought of their children now, perhaps she couldn't kill them just like he couldn't kill her, but he didn't know if she loved or wanted them. What was he supposed to say to them? Damn it, what was he supposed to do!

Sasuke straightened and took a few gasping breaths in hope that the tears would subside. But then he wondered if each day would be like this: one or all of his girls hating him for not retrieving their mother, crying, the betrayal and hurt at the thought their mother didn't want them... The girls needed their mother, and now they seemed to believe she didn't love them.

Sasuke sniffed and wiped at his eyes as he finally got control of his emotions. He ran an arm under his nose and blinked a few times before looking back down at his suture and finishing it. He snipped at the string and carefully began to dress his side.

When he finished, Sasuke fell back onto the bed and shook his head. Damn it all.

* * *

_**3011**_

Naruto sighed and ran a hand through her sheared hair. She looked down at her arrays, and scattered notes. She wished she had a library, she wished she had scrolls on space-time jutsu, really, she just wished she had some other source than just herself to draw upon. The fox only laughed at her - for all of his almighty power, Kurama was being decidedly useless.

_**"I am not useless brat!"**_

_"Could have fooled me,"_ Naruto mentally drawled and closed her eyes to converse better with the fox. It was to her dismay that she appeared before the fox in her female form. The first year or so she had been her former, male self, but now… Naruto sighed and sat down with her legs folded under her.

_**"Suck it up brat, you consider yourself a woman now, it's not the end of the world"**_

_ "Shut it Kurama, I don't want to hear any more out of you unless it's to help me!" _ Naruto snapped back. _"Besides, I think I'm entitled to lament about how I identify myself! I __**have**__ lived most of my life as a guy"_

_**"Really, the time is about equal since you can hardly remember your earlier years. Plus..."**_the foxes expression was decisively wicked, Naruto wasn't going to like what he said, _**"you lost your virginity and reproduced as a woman,"**_ Kurama's lips pulled back in an attempt at a smirk, however it just looked like he was snarling. _**"besides, I've always found female hosts to be far superior"**_

Naruto regained her composure from the fox's previous comment and gave him pointed look with scoffed, _"Only because you can break out,"_ Kurama didn't even have the decency to look abashed and instead just nodded his head.

_**"Admit it, Naruto, you enjoy being a woman. You enjoyed the love you felt from your daughters, from your **_**husband,**_** and that they gave you the family you could never have had."**_ Naruto shook her head vehemently. _**"You might be able to lie to yourself brat, but I know you. I see what you see, I hear what you hear, and I know your darkest thoughts. **_

_** "You know that Hyuuga would never have let you marry his daughter, your bloodline would have sullied his bloodline. That pink haired banshee would always pine after your husband and think of him instead of you. And who in the village without a bloodline would wed their daughter to you, a jinchuuriki? You may be the savior of the shinobi world, but you will always be a demon they secretly fear will snap someday and destroy them all. You are their martyr, their sacrifice, but you are never to be loved like you've been loved here."**_

_"Shut up!" _Naruto screamed and rose to her feet with her fist clenched at her sides shaking in rage. _"Shut up." _she fell back to the ground bowed her head in defeat, because Kurama's words held reason, held truth…

_** "Look around you brat, your mindscape is no longer a sewer, but the Old Forest. You've embraced this place, and you long for your family. You can deny it all you want, but this mindscape screams otherwise," **_

Naruto gritted her teeth. It was true, except to the left was a little forge sprung up from the ground, and one of the girls' dolls was off to the right. She could also see the Creek Hollow house through the trees. She growled under her breath and pulled at the short tresses. Tresses she had cut the moment she was far away from that **bastard**.

_**"You can't deny you enjoyed the tender treatment Uchiha gave you, especially when you were with child. You still think about him and the long, **_**sleepless **_**nights you two shared in these woods…"**_

_"I-I'm a man, I'm a man," _she chanted to herself despite all the opposing evidence around her. The first year had been easy for her to think of herself as a man, at least until the red sister came each month, then Kurama would cackle loudly in her head. It also probably helped that she was in autopilot for the most part as she tried to figure out a way to go back to Konoha. She had made some progress and finally narrowed down how exactly she got to this world, though the gender change still eluded her. Part of her suspected Kurama had had some hand in the matter despite his assurances that he had played no part.

_**"If I could have changed your sex, I would have done so while you were gestating in that bitch's womb," **_the fox always knew what she was thinking.

_"Don't you talk about my mother that way!"_

"Arad?" a melodious voice called to the blonde and she broke from her mental conversation. She looked up from her scattered papers with a miserable expression. "Sister, I have been calling you for some time. You seem so troubled, and not about your project," Goldberry held her arms open for the blonde who sighed and stood up to embrace her sister, so to speak.

"Goldie," Naruto whined, "I don't know how to explain it to you without confusing you," Naruto rested her head on the taller woman's shoulder.

"Tell me Sister, I will do my best to understand," she directed them toward the sitting area and they sat down heavily.

"Where I came from," Naruto began hesitantly and saw Goldberry nod her head in recognition, "Well…I was guy, I shouldn't be-be like **this**," she gestured to her curves with her slender hands.

"You have been here a year and you are only now bringing this up?" Goldberry's brow was furrowed and she looked stunned. Naruto flushed and rubbed at her neck.

"W-well…I was so focused on getting back to Konoha, and the memories were so fresh that I-I kept thinking of myself as a guy," Naruto sucked in a deep breath and held it as she waited for Goldberry to laugh, but the River's Daughter remained sincere and concerned.

"What is now conflicting you, then?"

Naruto bowed her head and sighed, "I keep realizing each month that I **am** a girl now," she gave Goldberry a pointed look and the River's Daughter blushed. "Not to mention I keep dreaming about that bastard and all the times we did it," Naruto bemoaned as she sprawled out in the seat, "And our girls…" Naruto blinked away tears.

Gods, her whole body missed them, it ached for her daughters – to hold them in her arms and to hear their laughter. Yet, yet her body shouldn't! Naruto was supposed to be a guy, who did not get sentimental over remembering each of her little blessings kicking inside of her or hiccoughing and sending bubbles around her tummy. She was a man damn it, but she wasn't associating herself as such anymore, especially when she thought of that bastard and their children – they were almost always on her mind now too! Naruto flung herself onto Goldberry and began to weep.

"I miss them so much!" she blubbered and sobbed while snot dripped from her nose and landed into Goldberry's hair. The woman seemed to forgive her and just held Naruto in return. Her slender, willowy fingers ran up and down Naruto's back in a soothing motion. They sat like that for what seemed like an age until Naruto hiccoughed and sniffled as she pulled away from her Middle Earth sister.

"Perhaps you should return to your family?" Goldberry suggested softly, but Naruto just shook her head.

"I can't," she forced out and sat back into her own seat but drew her knees to her chest. "I can't. I had dreams before we came here, dreams I nearly died for time and time again. I was in love, and things were finally going right in that world. I brought peace to the world and I wanted to make sure it lasted. But I can't anymore that I'm here." She also had to prove Kurama wrong, that she would be loved in Konoha, that Hinata would still be waiting for Naruto or that some civilian would wed their daughter to the Kyuubi jinchuuriki.

"Goldberry, I was robbed of everything I was when I came here." Goldberry looked at Naruto with wide eyes and she began to reach out her hand but Naruto jerked away from it in her anger, "Yeah, the Bastard is just happy as can be here, but only because he has everything he ever dreamed of, but what about me?!" Naruto pointed at herself and shook her head.

"Gods, Goldie, we were trying to kill each other before we came here! And he fucked me. The fucking bastard got me with child and screwed around with me countless times," Naruto stood up and flung her arms out in anger, "I was a very straight man before I came here. I refuse to be treated like some woman, and-and," Naruto lost her steam and slumped down again while running a hand through her hair. To be completely honest, part of her had enjoyed being treated so tenderly, to be loved so…so differently and intimately; yet, none of it changed the fact that she had been betrayed and taken advantage of by her former friend-rival turned enemy.

"Goldie, Sasuke didn't have anyone left there, but I did. There were so many people I treasured and I promised to be there for. I was going to protect the village - I was going to be its leader. But here I am, the **proud** mother of three girls with demonic eyes and an insane, homicidal bastard for their father.

"I can't go back, Goldie, I can't. I'd be giving up on everything I am, and I refuse to do that," Naruto ended in a low but firm voice. Yet she could hear Kurama chuckling in the background, while her stomach twisted painfully.

Goldberry looked down at her own hands which now rested in her lap. She held them together tightly but let them go as she sighed. "I hope you will not regret your decision, Arad," She stood up and practically floated past Naruto.

The blonde jinchuuriki closed her eyes and sighed heavily. Goldie was disappointed in her, she could tell…

_**"Heheh, you already are regretting it. I say go back there and bang the damn Uchiha. Another baby-"**_

_"Shut the fuck up you fucking fox, you just want to escape." _Kurama's laughter was her only response.

* * *

_**3012**_

Sasuke sighed heavily as he dragged himself from beneath the sheets. He wanted to wring the neck of the rooster that woke him up and then cook it for breakfast. Instead he pulled on some breeches and threw on a tunic before checking in on his girls. It always amazed him that they could sleep through the roosters crowing, though he supposed they grew up to hearing that damn animal. He yawned and rubbed his face as he closed the door.

He better get some work in before the market opened. He was glad Minuial had learned how to garden before Ara-Naruto left. Sasuke just seemed to kill plants so he let the little girl take charge of their garden. Tinnu helped her sister in the garden while Dawn did her best to help her father in the forge and with running the shop.

The first year had been the worst. Almost every night the twins asked why their mother left, they asked if she hated them, and they blamed themselves for her regaining her memories. They cried themselves to sleep for the first few months, and no matter how much he told them he loved them, told them that he was there for them…it wasn't enough and never subsided the tears. Dawn withdrew from her family, but she helped him and looked after her sisters, she just didn't talk to them much anymore. She spent more and more time with the Haldarad (and sometimes the other Dúnedian) when she could be spared from the shop.

Part of Sasuke wanted to lock her inside the house instead of letting her go off with that young ranger, who was in his twenties if Sasuke was not mistaken. Though she returned with a leg of venison without fail, and they needed the food. So, out of necessity he couldn't refuse her request to go off with him. Besides, Halbarad kept an eye on the two and reported back what happened on the outing, which was some relief.

Though, Sasuke wondered if Halbarad lied to keep his son safe from Sasuke's overprotectiveness. Sauske really did not like rapport he saw developing between his ten-year-old and the young (for a Dúnedian) Haldarad. Each day brought his daughters closer and closer to marrying age, which at the latest, in Bree at least, was sixteen years. He and Arad…they may have been married that young, but he didn't want his daughters to be married at sixteen, let alone younger.

Sasuke wiped at his brow and consequently smeared more soot across his face. He set down his anvil and sighed. He probably ought to go to the market.

He grabbed a basket and pulled on his boots before he made his way onto the main road. He nodded to the townsfolk who looked at him in pity. He heard their whispers, had been hearing them for the past two years. Cuckold, widower, murderer; those were the names they whispered about him behind his back. He scoffed, only one of those names was correct but the assumption was incorrect. He only murdered those who deserved it, like that fucking bastard Danzo. He gritted his teeth and pushed away the memories and lies that induced him to fratricide.

He nodded to a woman selling eggs and requested half a dozen, and in return he traded her some of the soap he had made that week. Next he bought milk and cheese from a farmer who came into town each morning. Sometimes the farmer was willing to trade the milk for soap but not always. Business had not been going as well after-most people seemed to think he killed her and that was why the bubbly missus had disappeared.

Sasuke sighed and returned home after trading for some flour and yeast. He had to make another loaf of bread – they were down to their last crumbs.

This year had been tough on them, but at least there was less crying and yelling at him. However, the year was still not much better than last. The twins didn't ask him every night why their mother left, they didn't beg him anymore to retrieve her, but they kept blaming themselves for her leaving - just less vocally than they had before. The twins gave up, just like Dawn had the previous year. In some ways they all just moved through the motions, except when they trained.

Sasuke shook his head as he reentered the shop. He pulled off his boots and moved toward the fireplace. He had to throw on some kindling to revive the coals before he set the skillet in the hearth. He retrieved some salted meat they had stored up and tossed it on to the skillet and cracked open one egg. Sometimes he wished they had gotten a house with a firewood stove like the one in Crick Hollow.

_"Tousan?"_ Sasuke looked over his shoulder at Minuial and gave her a small smile. She was still rubbing sleep out of her eyes and her braid was in disarray.

_"Good Morning, Sweetheart," _she returned his small smile with a small sleepy one. _"How many tomatoes do we have left?"_ the girl frowned at his question before she crinkled her brow in thought.

_"We could each have half for breakfast,"_ she mumbled and moved to grab a plate for her father. He hummed and flipped the contents of the skillet onto the plate before handing it back to Minuial. The then cracked another egg onto the skillet and added more salted meat.

They repeated their actions and soon had four plates prepared as they moved over to the small dining room table. Minuial cut two tomatoes in half and set the halves on the plates while Sasuke cut small pieces of cheese for each of them and poured the milk. Gods he missed refrigerators, warm milk was disgusting and nothing kept.

Dawn was dragging a yawning Tinnu down the stairs shortly after the table was set. _"She wouldn't wake up,"_ Dawn explained her tardiness as she sat down. Sasuke chuckled and with an echo of _Itadakimasu_ they dug into breakfast.

Dawn sighed as she waited for her sisters to finish eating; she had to wash the dishes while father worked on some horse shoes. She hoped someone from the Grey Company would commission something, with how few orders they were getting, they were almost scraping coins together in hope they'd replicate.

_"Alright, you two need to dress, and fix your hair,"_ Dawn stated in sindarin. She had been teaching her sisters for four years now, ever since Uncle Strider left and told her to continue their sindarin education. She was able to practice with the Dúnedian and the evlish Twins that occasionally joined them, but her sisters still were not allowed out of the village without Tousan.

Her sisters nodded and hurried up the stairs. Dawn frowned, before Mother left they used to race each other up to their room, they used to try to sabotage each other, and they used to smile just like Mother.

Dawn brought the dishes to a large empty basin and set them at the bottom. She then poured water into it from the pitcher beside it. With her brow furrowed she struck the spark rocks at the kindling under the basin to heat up the water. After a few tries if finally caught, and with a triumphant smile she got down to washing the dishes. By the time she was done, her sisters were dressed and ready for the day.

_"What should we do Sister?" _Minuial asked in sindarin as she fidgeted in place.

_"Do you have things in the garden to do?"_ the girl shook her head in response to Dawn's question, _"Very well, Tousan wants you two to work on your arithmetic and letters. So go get that worksheet he made you,"_ the girls grumbled and trudged back up the stairs.

Before long they each had their tasks and the day passed like any other day. At least until Dawn felt a familiar chakra. She shot up from her seat and grabbed her bow and quiver. The twins seemed to notice the chakra but they didn't recognize it. Dawn clenched her bow tightly, a bow Haldarad had made for her.

Sasuke dropped the prongs and the metal he had been working. He was out of the forge door before the metal hit the dirt floor with a hiss. He grabbed his _Kusanagi_ from its place against the counter and attached it to his belt. He made sure he had a few kunai up his sleeve before he left the shop.

Naruto was waiting for him on the main road and there was cacophony of whispers and gossip from the Bree-folk, but all of Sasuke's attention was focused on the blonde standing before him with her hands balled into fists at her sides.

Dawn had followed him out along with the twins, _"Get back inside,"_ he hissed but his daughters ignored him. Dawn was fingering an arrow she had fitted into the string, which caused Sasuke to grimace. Tinnu and Minuial looked torn between elation, shock, and hope.

Naruto's toad like eyes were narrowed in anger and she ran at him with a fist raised. He caught the fist and kicked her away from the kids. There were resounding gasps from amongst the crowd and even more as Naruto got up as if he had done nothing. Sasuke walked toward her and motioned for his daughters to keep back.

_"I'm not here for them, Teme,"_ she rushed him again and he dodged each blow, but did his best to look like a normal Middle Earthling. Naruto soon began to swing faster, and unless he wanted to freak the populace out, he had to let her hit him. The first punch to land knocked his jaw out of alignment and the next one hit him right in the gut. He coughed up some blood but then was kicked to the side hard enough the he skidded against the ground for a yard.

_"Damn it, fight me back!"_ She screamed and quickly straddled him to better punch Sasuke in the face.

Their audience looked horrified yet amazed. Perhaps they didn't think a woman could be strong enough to beat the shit out of her husband? How chauvinistic. They should meet Sakura or that bitch of a Hokage.

_"Kaasan, stop it!" _ Minuial screamed.

_ "Stop hurting Tousan!"_ Tinnu pleaded.

"You have until three before I let this arrow fly," Dawn warned in a startling cold voice that caused Sasuke to tense beneath Naruto.

_"Dobe, don't do this," _he whispered as he opened his eyes to see the blonde with her arm raised to punch him again. Gods it hurt to talk with his jaw messed up like this.

She dropped her head and gritted her teeth. She looked so much like the dobe from Konoha it was alarming. Instead of punching him, Nartuo grabbed his bloodied tunic and lifted Sasuke off the ground to shake him. _"Why did you do this to me? I was going to marry Hinata, I was going to become Hokage!"_

_ "Do you really think I would orchestrate this?" _Sasuke shot back before spitting some blood onto to the ground beside them. He glared at Naruto the best he could with one of his eyes quickly swelling shut. _" I was trying to kill you - not send us both to some other world and end up married to you," _out of the corner of his eye he saw his daughters gasp and Dawn drop her bow from her limp fingers.

_"I used to be a man, Sasuke! I'm not supposed to have children, I'm not supposed to get fucked by you. Did you enjoy that you sadistic-"_

_ "What did you expect?" _Sasuke interrupted and sat up, which caused the dobe to fall gracelessly into his lap,_ "We couldn't remember who the fucking hell we were, and you were a gorgeous woman. What healthy young man wouldn't want to fuck you?!"_ Naruto blushed and clenched tighter to his tunic, _"But did I after I regained my memories, no fucking way in hell! _

_ "You threw your fucking self at me day in and day out. If our roles were reversed would __**you **__have had the self-restraint, oh pupil of the pervert sage?" _Sasuke had his sharingan spinning and Naruto looked horrified. _"This was not some __**plot**__, to screw you over and gain a family." _The dobe seemed to have lost her steam and she let go of his tunic,_ "I'm happy I have a family at last, and that is why I will not let you take them from me,"_ He made sure the dobe was looking at him as he said this and he deactivated his eyes, lest a villager notice the discoloration..

Her eyes were hard and her lips were drawn into a line. This was the dobe he recognized from those dark days he lived in the Elemental Lands. This was Naruto: serious from war, serious from being underestimated, and serious from being perceived as a monster.

_"I told you before, I would never hurt them. I felt them growing inside of me, I nursed them. You can't imagine what I feel for them,"_ the blonde growled lowly.

_"Too late, dobe," _Sasuke glared down at Naruto whose expression fell into confusion. She looked over at their stunned daughters,_ "I didn't know if you cared for them anymore, I couldn't explain why you abandoned them or whether you ever loved them. Dobe, they need their mother, but no, you abandon them"_

Naruto continued to look at their daughters and blinked a few more times before all fight seemed to drain out of her. Naruto's head fell against his shoulder and Sasuke tensed, "_I do love them, I love them so much,"_ the dobe's voice was rough and broke a few times.

Sasuke slowly began to shake his head, this wasn't right. The dobe never cried unless something was seriously wrong, yet he could feel his shirt slowly getting wet and not from the blood still running from his broken nose. The dobe wasn't supposed to cry, Arad, yes, but Naruto…never.

_"Kurama was right. I-I just…" _the blonde clutched his tunic tightly with her slender fingers, _"I had so many dreams,"_ Sasuke hesitantly wrapped his arms around the blonde. Once he did so she threw her arms around his neck and cried harder, _"Is-is it so wrong I want my old life? Is it so wrong that I'm confused?"_

_ "No,"_ Sasuke whispered back and held on tighter to the dobe, _"I'm confused too."_ After a pause he began to shift into a standing position, _"Let's get inside, they've had enough of a show," _he whispered again and Naruto nodded while wrapping her legs around his waist.

The girls were still in shock, so Sasuke had to push past them to get into the shop, he hoped they would follow him and close the door after them, but currently he had to focus on the sobbing blonde in his arms. He made it to their old room and began to lower her onto the bed but the dobe wouldn't let go of him.

_"Don't," _Naruto called. He couldn't help but frown as he awkwardly complied and laid down on the bed beside her.

Tinnu stared after her parents, still in shock. So it had been all father's fault that mother had left, it had never been any of their faults? Yet-yet mother had never wanted children, she had said so. But no…Kaasan said she loved them. Tinnu shook her head and looked to her twin for guidance but Minuial looked just as lost.

"Dawn?" Minuial asked softly in westron, it was a habit to speak that tongue when around the Bree-folk "Does this mean Mom-Mother's going to stay?"

Dawn looked more angry than confused, her jaw was set firmly and she nodded her head stiffly, "I think so." She then stooped to pick up her bow and headed toward the town gate.

"Where are you going?" Tinnu asked in unison with her twin.

"I'm going to find Haldarad," she called and quickly left.

Tinnu and Minuial shared a look and then looked out at the assembled people. The Bree-folk still looked horrified and confused. It made Tinnu sick. She couldn't stand the sight of these people. She tugged on Minuial's hand and hurried inside. She closed the door after her and sat down heavily. Minuial remained standing and was fidgeting.

_"Kaasan's really back?"_ she asked and Tinnu just nodded numbly. It was so strange to think but, Kaasan was really, really back. _"Does Kaasan want us or not?"_

_ "I don't know Minu, I don't know,"_ Minuial sat down beside Tinnu and enveloped her twin in a hug, it was such a comfort to the eight-year-old that she could not stop herself from squeezing back tightly.

Dawn hopped from tree to tree as she approached the Shire border. Haldarad patrolled the border with his father, and she hoped to catch him. Her thoughts were spinning around so fast she almost felt dizzy. Her parents…her parents hated each other. Sure she had always had the impression that something wasn't right between her parents, that they had always been so distant and one-sided but to think… and mother had been a man too!?

Dawn jerked to a halt and peered below her at one of the cloaked Dúnedian. She licked her lips and made a bird coo three times. She then dropped down from her hiding spot and was greeted with a nod.

_"Dawn,"_ the tall ranger greeted in sidarin before he gave her a knowing smile, _"Looking for Haldarad?"_ she just nodded, though normally she would have blushed. The ranger picked up on this and frowned. _"Has something happened?"_ he asked but she just looked away.

_"Where's Haldarad?"_ the ranger frowned at her response and pointed in the direction Haldarad was stationed. Dawn nodded and used chakra to jump back onto the branch of a tree. She then raced off toward her friend and confidant.

She saw another cloaked figure and knew by the way he moved it was Halbarad, she made the same bird call three times before she dropped down in front of the solemn ranger. Halbarad nodded his head to her and frowned. He must know something was wrong.

"What has happened, child?" He knelt down beside her and set a hand upon her shoulder. He seldom spoke to her in the evlish tongue, and never when there was as serious matter at hand.

"Mother returned…I" she shook her head clenched her eyes shut, she would not break down now. She felt a heavy, calloused hand on her shoulder and she looked up at her friend's father. He was Ojisan's good friend too, he was trusted, and he was kind.

"Should not this be a happy occasion?"

Dawn bit her lip and looked down again, "Mother and Father hate each other. Mother never wanted children. I-I don't know, it's so confusing," her shoulders slumped and Halbarad hummed.

"What exactly happened?" he asked slowly in a way that reminded her of Uncle Strider. Oh how she missed her uncle, if he was here, she would have had no reservations about telling him what happened, but he wasn't here.

Instead of spilling her guts about all that troubled her, she shook her head and bit her lip. "Can I speak with Haldarad?" she asked and Halbarad frowned.

"Very well, Dawn," he stood up and took her hand in his own calloused one. "I will take you to his outpost."

When they came upon the young man, he smiled brightly at Dawn until he caught her drawn expression and his smile faltered. He stooped down to be at her eye level. His calm grey eyes were filled with such caring that she soon found her composure slipping. Haldarad looked up at his father and Dawn imagined he nodded for not a moment later she could hear his footsteps retreating.

Haldarad sat against a tree and Dawn sunk down to the ground heavily. She took in a deep, shuddering breath as tears began to slip down her face.

_"Friend please tell me what troubles you," _he asked softly with his head dipped down to better regard her.

Halbarad was several yards away and he was leaning against a tree with his eyes steadily fixed on them. Since the man was not proficient in sindarin they often spoke it together to feel like they had more privacy. Dawn had no doubt that she and Haldarad would be married someday - perhaps in a few years when she became a woman - which was why Halbarad never let them out of his sight. They needed a chaperone if they would be married someday, though Dawn wondered if her father would make her wait – several human girls in Bree, that were her age, were already engaged

Dawn shook her head and cleared those thoughts away,she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, _"Mother came back, she fought Father and was screaming at him,"_ Haldarad motioned for her to continue. She took another shaky breath, _"She didn't want to be here, she didn't want to have children…she hates Father. She also said there was someone she wanted to marry, and I'm just so confused."_ She bowed her head and clutched at her hair.

_"I don't even know why Father would let her back in when she'll just leave us again!"_ Dawn screamed and pulled her knees up to her chest. Mother would just leave all over again, she just knew it.

Haldarad set a hand upon her shoulder and gently coaxed her to uncurl. He pulled her into a loose embrace and rested his cheek upon her head. _"Perhaps there is more than you choose to see there? Perhaps your parents do love each other? Perhaps your mother was confused? She has had time to sort through her old and new memories."_

Dawn looked up at her friend with wide eyes; she could not help but feel betrayed. His mother died in childbirth, he didn't know what it was like to have a mother one moment and then have her **choose** to leave. He didn't have to see any siblings cry because some heartless woman left them, nor did he see his father struggle to explain things only to be hurt each time by some carelessly thrown statements of hate. They had never been a perfect family but there had never been any doubt that her parents loved them and that they loved each other in their own way.

_"I am told a mother's love is the strongest –"_ Dawn shot to her feet in disgust and backed away from him while shaking her head.

_"Then why did she leave us?!" _ She screamed and turned away from him to run back to the village. She didn't want to hear this; she didn't want to hear any more lies. If the bond between mother and child is so strong, why did she run away from them without looking back once? She saw her mother leave that day with that evil red chakra coating her form. She saw her mother swipe at her father. She saw the hate in her mother's normally yellow eyes.

Haldarad did have a point but she didn't want to hear it.

Naruto took a deep breath through her nose and burrowed her face into the crook of Sasuke's neck. He smelled like the soap they used to make together, and soot. He smelled like leaves, and coal…and fire. Then there was the scent Naruto remembered from their genin days that had later been smothered by the smell of snakes and blood and Karin. It was distinctly Sasuke, Naruto's friend and rival, and while the blonde was without memories, it was the smell of her husband.

She smiled slightly. Right, husband. The bastard she had chased around the world, the bastard that had nearly killed her countless times, was her husband. Perhaps Kurama's arrogant attitude was rubbing off on her, but she could not help but feel ever so slightly smug about the arrangement. Got ya bastard! She snickered at the thought.

_"Do I want to know?" _Sasuke's deep, but slightly amused voice broke through her thoughts, and she tensed for a moment but relaxed. Part of her couldn't believe she was still alive after falling asleep in the bastard's arms. But then…she knew Sasuke had changed. He wouldn't kill her, not ever, but he wouldn't let her hurt their children. She mentally scoffed, as if she would ever do that!

_"Just thinking of the irony," _she paused and pulled back a little to look up at the bastard who had an eyebrow quirked_. "I chased you all over the Elemental Lands, nearly was killed by you more times than I care to remember, and here I am married to you. I don't have to chase you anymore,"_ the bastard scoffed.

_"True, and I was about to chase after you to bring __**you**__ home," _the smirk fell and the bastard looked serious, _"Please don't do that to us again. They need you, and your leaving has…I don't know if it can be fixed," _Naruto blinked a few times and saw the bastard swallow thickly.

She frowned and looked down at his bloodied tunic. The bastard's face was already swollen and purpling, and the dried blood covering his chin and neck was a little disturbing. Guilt began to squirm around inside of Naruto, and with a sigh she retracted herself from her husband and sat up.

She had been so angry. She had been so fed up with the dreams, and fed up with Kurama whispering those toxic words to her. So she didn't think about what she was doing and just wanted to wail on the bastard like in the old days, screw the audience. Perhaps she should have thought through her actions. Licking her lips she stood up and moved toward the basin.

_"I won't leave again, I promise." _ She poured water from the pitcher into the basin and grabbed a rag lying beside it. _"Want me to set your nose or-"_ Naruto snickered to herself, for as soon as she suggested setting the bastard's nose, he was already using a medical jutsu to fix the cartilage. What faith her husband had in her healing abilities.

_"What about Konoha and being Hokage?"_ Naruto winced at the venom in the bastard's words. She frowned and sat down beside him with the basin in her lap.

_"I hit a wall in my research, and…"_ she looked away from him but could still feel the bastard's eyes boring holes into her, _"I don't have any knowledge on space-time jutsu to figure out how to get back. Besides…I have a family here"_

_ "What about your dreams and Hinata?"_ the bastard hissed, when Naruto didn't look at him or respond to his question, he grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. He looked miserable; she could see large bags under the eye that was not swollen shut.

_"Just a foolish wish on my part. Hiashi probably wouldn't let me marry her if I was the last suitor on the planet. No one would…"_

_ "So you're here because you don't think you'll have a family there. We're just the fallback, the last resort?"_ Naruto flinched and shook her head. _"Then what dobe? Don't lie to me, I know you would never give up on being Hokage," _

_"Yes I still want to be Hokage, but that's not possible anymore. And before you go back to this being the last resort," _Naruto jabbed the bastard in the chest with her pointer finger, _"I love them more than I could have ever thought possible. And-" _Naruto flushed and tried to look away but Sasuke's hold on her chin remained firm.

_"And?"_ he sounded threatening, if not a little angry.

_"And maybe I like being your wife, okay?!" _Naruto shouted, and nearly stood up but the heavy weight of the basin kept her seated. _"But don't you get any ideas, Teme,"_ she looked up at him defiantly and glared _"I wear the pants and if you don't start acting like the man I married in Shire, you'll be sleeping in the rocking chair!"_

Naruto smiled triumphantly at the dumbfounded look on the bastard's face and broke out of the loose hold he had on her chin. She then happily dunked the rag into the basin and began to roughly scrub the dried blood off of her shocked husband's face.

Minuial snickered at her place beside the bedroom door and it looked like Tinnu was about to squeal. Dawn was watching them from her corner but Minuial could tell her sister was doing something with her chakra to eavesdrop as well. She looked even more confused than before. Dawn then waved them away from the room.

Minuial frowned and begrudgingly moved away. So Kaasan did love them but she had been confused and she still wanted to go back to that Konoha place but she just didn't know how. Though there was still a little voice at the back of Minuial's mind that wondered if they really were just a fallback plan? If Kaasan could go back to Konoha would she abandon them all over again? She hoped not.

And Kaasan had been a man… That was strange to think about, though that had to explain why Kaassan had said she never wanted to have children – she probably meant have have… because only women could have have children. It was still strange to think Kaasan and Tousan hated each other, but Kaasan did say she liked being married to Tousan. Minuial hoped things would get better.

Sasuke grabbed Naruto's hand before she could brutally scrap away at more of his skin with that rag. Was she purposely being rough or did she really just not know how to be gentle. He felt their daughters leaving and ducked his head so he could whisper into Naruto's ear.

_"You won't give up on researching a way back there, will you?" _the dobe seemed to pick up on his efforts to remain quiet and simply shook her head, _"I won't go back there and you will have to kill me before I let you bring them there," _he hissed in a low voice, as he held a little too tightly to her upper arms.

_"I wouldn't dream of bringing them there,"_ the dobe whispered back in a hard tone, _"The shinobi world could do without the sharingan and…and the rinnegan"_ she looked away from him and Sasuke felt his breath catch. Shit, their children could unlock that, fuck! Why hadn't he realized that sooner?! No, he knew why he hadn't. His wife had never been Naruto until she regained her memories; before she was just Arad, bloodline-less and not an Uzumaki in his mind.

_"Teme, I don't know if I do want to go back permanently. You're not the only one to have gained a family from this mess," _Sasuke felt the dobe rest her head against his shoulder, _"D'you know I think of myself as a woman now? It's still strange yet I can't help but think that way now. I-I've…never felt so loved as I have here," _the dobe was furrowing her brow.

_"But you still wonder, don't you?"_ Sasuke asked softly and leaned back against the head board with the blonde following his movement. She nodded her head, _"I'll help you, I just…don't leave us again Naruto," _the blonde looked up at him in confusion until something dawned on her.

_"You'll help me research away back? Just to state my curiosity?"_ Sasuke looked away and slowly nodded his head.

_"Thank you, Sasuke," _she whispered and laid down on him more fully with her head resting against his shoulder. It was familiar and part of Sasuke was horrified to discover he missed this, _"You won't have to sleep in the chair tonight,"_

* * *

_A suivre_

* * *

**A/N:** that was an exceptionally dramatic chapter, sorry, most won't be that way. I'm trying to be true to characters but... I have never been a fan of Sasuke because I just see him as a really fucked up psychotic asshole, though I do like the Sasuke I'm writing, I just have a hard time characterizing him as he is in the series. And really he shouldn't bee too much like he is in the series because he's taken away from that environment and has something productive to live for.

Okay, I hate doing this but I have a question for you readers::: I have two plans for how to write this, and I have written it both ways in my head. **The first way** is Naruto is present for the Fellowship. **The second way** "she" is not present for the Fellowship. I'm sort of leaning toward the second option but then there will be more drama and I just love imagining female Naruto at the council of Elrond being completely shameless and belligerent.

Anyways if you have a preference I need to know before I update the next chapter, because I will be orchestrating things in that chapter to lead to one of these two directions. I do like both options about equally and it does not change the overall plot of the story in anyway. Also, this is very different from other LOTR cross-overs, so just keep that in mind (because I have too much respect for the character development Tolkien made to interfere with it by adding characters where they shouldn't be). Anyways, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this ~ with love, depressedchildren


	7. Chapter 7: For the Better or Worse?

_**Disclaimer:**_I do not own either works, nor do I profit from posting this but in terms of writing experience. The characters and plot belong to their respective creators and companies.

_**Full Summary:**_ It was to be the final showdown, the battle that would free him from his blonde shadow. But when was anything straightforward with the dobe; yet he would not change what happened for anything in the world. When that cheerful little man said he was to meant to protect and marry Nature's daughter (as he did with Goldberry), Sasuke never expected to finally have the family, the _children_, he had dreamed of as a genin. But now he finds his family being taken from his grasp as they are pulled into the struggles of the free peoples against the Power in the East. _**WARNINGS:**_ amnesia, OC's, character death (not a likable character), gender-bending.

_**A/N: **_Guess who's been procrastinating a lot and is going to have their ass kicked next week by school, yep, me. Anyways, updating, and after this chapter it'll be caught up with the movies/Frodo leaving the shire. I explain why this is set as complete at the end of the 's fighting & Aragorn in this chapter but both are toward the end so bear with it, also male readers may feel uncomfortable with the first section, but it's a part of life and if anyone has a daughter they'll have to deal with this eventually. Thanks to all who reviewed, put this on favorite and alert. Enjoy, with love ~ depressedchildren

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_**Chapter Sept**_

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_**3014**_

Minuial paused in pulling weeds to watch her mother. It had been…tense at first – that was for certain. Kaasan tried so hard to-to make it up to them. She always wore this big fun smile, but half the time it did not make it to her eyes. Then there were moments, like now, where her mother would stare off in space with the saddest look in her eyes. Confusion, longing, and sometimes even regret read on her face, but then she'd notice one of them and she would give her big fun smile that didn't meet her eyes. Though, that was not to say that Kaasan was always sad.

Most of the time Kaasan looked happy, especially during training or when they sat down for dinner as a family. Then there were the odd moments where Minuial would look up from a book or a worksheet and her mother would be looking at her with the strangest but most pleasant look on her face. She also saw that whenever she braided Tinnu's hair, which thankfully she had gotten much better at doing without tugging too much, she looked so content. Minuial liked to think her mother had the same expression when she let Kaasan brush her hair.

Minuial sighed and pulled up another weed from their little garden. _"Kaasan?" _she questioned but did not look up at the woman. She knew what would happen; it was always the same reaction. She would blink several times and then look around her. Then Kaasan would look at her and blink again before smiling broadly.

_"Yes Sweetheart?"_ she asked with a cheerful tone, Minuial knew the tone was sincere but her mother's eyes would probably hold a little bit of regret or longing in them. A little voice at the back of her head said it was because her Kaasan didn't want to be here.

_"Are we done yet?"_ Minuial whined, forcing the emotion. She really did not mind weeding the garden, but when Kaasan started to drift off like that, it was always best to change the scenery or distract her with a task.

She laughed a little and her eyes crinkled up in her amusement. Kaasan had her hands on her hips, _"But look how many weeds we have left!" _her eyes flashed for a moment and mischievous smile crossed her face.

Minuial perked up instantly. Whenever Kaasan had that look it meant they were going to have some fun, usually at the expense of Tousan. She found herself smiling like her mother and she leaned closer to the woman.

_"Hmm… you know, there is this one trap I haven't showed you how to make yet and your father has been walking a little too calmly. What'd you say we make him walk around on his toes for a little while?"_

Minuial started to laugh, or cackle as her father liked to term the fiendish laughter. She began to nod adamantly, _"Does Tinnu get to help?"_

_ "I don't see why not, but you have to get her out here and finish all the weeding,"_ Minuial gave an excited cry and shot up from the ground to run inside and grab her sister.

Sasuke looked up from the log book at the sound of the door being slammed open. That was Minuial alright. He sighed as he looked back down at the numbers and rubbed his temples. He turned his head to the side as he watched his ever excitable ten-year-old rush toward the stairs. _"Where's the fire?" _ he asked with a sigh. She paused half way up the stairs and looked at him over her shoulder.

Sasuke instantly paled. The mischief in her eyes told him his darling wife and youngest daughters were going to churn out something wicked and unpleasant for him. He knew the dobe's excuse for every trap they laid for him, _we don't want you getting lazy, oh great Uchiha-san. _Then she would bring up the time he got caught in a simple snare.

In his defense, he had been exhausted! They had been sparing for an exceptionally long time in the middle of the night because the dobe had to work off some frustrations – Sasuke believed it was just PMS but the dobe would castrate him if he said that, no matter how true. The dobe still had the most unfathomable stamina in the world and being in sage mode in a world that radiated natural energy; Sasuke was understandably exhausted after the first few hours and of course they sparred for several more hours after. Still, Naruto teased him relentlessly about it.

Minuial gave him a coy smile, _"Oh nothing Tousan, Kaasan wanted to talk to Tinnu," _

Oh yes, "talk," he mentally scoffed. The little demons were being taught complex and humiliating traps. _"Um-hmm, well tell your mother I need to talk shop with her when you're done." _

Minuial just nodded and cackled her way up the stairs to the bedroom - the little menace. Sasuke sighed and dropped his head into his hands. He rubbed his face and heard his daughters peels of maniacal laughter before they came thundering down the stairs. His wonderfully well-behaved Tinnu could turn into a little demon at the drop of the hat if Minuial was in her presence. He groaned when they slammed the door closed. Why did they have to take after their mother so much?

He looked back down at the numbers on the page and dropped his head to the desk. He was waiting on a shipment of ore, but who knew when that would come. He was already melting down kunai and old horseshoes to make up their lacking supplies.

Gondor was understandably taking up most of the ore shipments, what with their skirmishes against Mordor, but they could let the traders save some it for those on the west side of the mountains. If all else failed, he could always ask the Shire suppliers, but being a "big person" they were hesitant to trade with him.

Business had gotten a little better, but no one looked at Naruto or himself the same. Some of the villagers gave him pitying looks, and Bill Fenry had the nerve to suggest he "take a switch to that unruly wench." If he had "beat" his wife in front of the villagers they would have been appalled but if she acted out and he didn't beat her, he was encouraged to beat her.

It was ridiculous, and he refused to have his daughters enter into a relationship like that. They would show their respective husbands who was boss, and the man better respect them. The bastard that mistreats one of his girls would go through Tsukyomi repeatedly until they died or had a complete mental collapse. The dobe would probably rig some horrific and humiliating death for the little shit, that or bring out the fox and rip the bastard's throat out. He smiled at the thought, in that scenario he would kiss the dobe, Kyuubi cloak and all. Then they might bathe in the bastard's blood.

"Father?" Sasuke blinked and quickly focused in on Dawn who was standing next to Haldarad. The ranger looked slightly uncomfortable, and was fidgeting with a deer slung over his shoulder. Dawn seemed to be asking him, with her eyes, what he had been doing.

"I was just imagining what your mother and I would do to the unlucky bastard that ever hurt one of you three," he stated with malicious smile directed at Haldarad. The young man actually flinched.

"I-I'll just let you skin this on your own," the young Dúnedian hastily set the dead deer down in the middle of the shop and turned tail. Dawn stared after him and then turned to look at her father with a blank stare.

_"Did you really have to do that?"_ she asked, and when Sasuke continued smiling with his eyes fixed on the still open door, she shook her head and dragged the deer to the dining room table. _"Would you like to help?"_ she asked. Sasuke stood up and shook his head.

_"I'm afraid I have some work in the forge to do. But I'm sure your mother—"_ Dawn gave him an icy glare. The girl was certainly stubborn like both of them. He sighed heavily and leaned against the store counter, _"Dawn, she's trying –"_

_ "I don't care, she left us!"_ she hissed and looked toward the door, as if the dobe would suddenly appear there. Sasuke shook his head and did his best to look disappointed with his eldest's behavior.

He knew it was hard for her, she had been older than the twins but still so young. She resented him for how quickly he let the dobe back into their home, and he dared not say he did it for the twins because he did not want that resentment transferred to them. He also couldn't explain why he forgave the dobe so easily. He even was surprised with himself. Perhaps because Sasuke knew exactly what the dobe had been ripped from and what had awaited…him…before he was forced here and became a woman.

It was strange to think of the dobe like that…the dobe had always been the dobe. Naruto had been another stepping stone toward defeating Itachi – as bitter a thought it was to think – and Naruto had been a thorn in his side, an obstacle, a nuisance. Then the dobe became something more: the person to give him a family again, someone he got to experience peace with, and someone who understood his pain and confusion – to some degree. Sasuke may not have had anything left in Konoha but he too had dreams, dreams of revenge that echoed in his mind and reminded him that there were still loose ends to snip.

He shook his head and moved toward the dining table. He bent down and picked the deer up, _"Dawn, give her a chance."_ She looked up at him and had her arms folded across her chest, and did he detect a grimace? _"What if you were suddenly plucked out this world, away from your family and friends? What if all your dreams and ambitions were taken from you because you were suddenly in another world?" _Sasuke asked in a clipped voice. He had had about enough of this behavior from Dawn, who was supposed to be a role model for her sisters. If the twins could – hell, if he could – welcome Naruto back with open arms, why wouldn't she?

She looked up at him with wide eyes. Confusion flashed in their depths for a moment before betrayal washed over her. She then ran out of the room. Gods, she was already acting like a brooding teenager and she was only twelve. Wait! Had he acted like that when he was her age? For a moment he almost felt sorry for that useless Cyclops.

_"Umm…? Dawn just ran into the outhouse?"_ Sasuke looked over at the blonde standing in the doorway with a quizzical look on her face. _"I had a flashback to our genin days, except it was usually me that pissed Sakura off to the point she'd seek refuge in the bathroom."_

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and smirked at the dobe, _"Seek refuge, didn't know you knew that term,"_ he easily caught the kunai she threw at him and spun it about before moving toward the water pitcher and basin. He began to clean to knife but regarded the dobe over his shoulder,_ "Actually, you still were the one to piss her off," _Sasuke's expression sobered and his brow furrowed slightly.

Naruto's eyes darkened and she bowed her head in what seemed like defeat. _"I've tried everything I can think of. She won't talk to me, she barely tolerates my presence…"_ the dobe walked over to the table and absentmindedly touched the deer's hind hooves. Sasuke sighed and flicked off the water from the kunai before he moved over to the deer and began to carve the pelt away from the meat. Once he freed some of the skin away he would roll it up so the pelt could come off in one piece.

_"I'm at my wits' end," _Naruto whispered as she watched him.

_"Me too…" _ Sasuke sighed again and rolled back more of the pelt.

_"I know it seemed like I abandoned everyone, and…"_ the blonde looked away from him and took a deep breath. Sasuke winced, the dobe had certainly become more…emotional – perhaps it was the excess estrogen and other hormones? He set the kunai down and considered wiping off the blood from his hands and arms, but opted not when he heard Naruto choke back a sob.

If not for the years they had lived in amnesic peace, if not for Crickhollow or having children with her, he would have shuddered at how willing he was to give her comfort. He found himself wrapping his arms around the dobe and she returning the embrace.

_"Teme, she hasn't let me hold her once since I came back. Do you know what it's like to be shunned by—I mean; I felt her growing inside of me. I just want-"_ Sasuke found himself swaying slightly in place, _"I miss my baby so much," _Sasuke closed his eyes and swallowed thickly. _"Sasuke, I don't know what to do anymore,"_ she finished and pulled back enough to wipe at her tears.

_"Naruto," _Sasuke started before he was interrupted by the twins barging into the room from the forge.

_"Eww!"_ they cried in unison and scrunched up their faces. Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at the two of them, at least until he realized what exactly they were staring at. Hadn't they seen him or Dawn skin an animal before?

_"What?"_ Naruto asked with her hands on her hips, _"We're married! It's not gross if we hug in front of you. In fact we could start making out right now. I mean, how do you think you two were create—"_

_ "Dobe, they're looking at the deer,"_ Sasuke stated and pinched the bridge of his nose, regardless of the blood covering his hands.

_"Oh…"_

After a sufficiently awkward silence, Sasuke sighed and turned to the twin terrors, _"What did you come running in here for? Don't you two have a trap to make?"_ the girls gasped in shock and Sasuke rolled his eyes, _"I'd be a fool not to suspect something," _he stated and Naruto snickered beside him.

Sometimes it was amazing how quickly the dobe could push back her unhappy emotions. In some ways, her jovial attitude was like his stoic demeanor. It was a mask that hid all her pain, anger, hate. A happy-go-lucky mask that Sasuke realized the dobe had always worn, even during their genin days. In addition, it made her hard to read, perhaps even harder to read than him because she always seemed happy. Certainly the dobe was one of a naturally gay disposition, but negative emotions were hidden when they occurred; unless they became too much – over two years of being shunned by Dawn and she finally broke down.

_"We came to tell you both that Dawn won't come out,"_ Minuial stated with her eyes trained on her father.

_"We tried everything, really, we did!"_ Tinnu stated beside her twin who was fidgeting in place.

Sasuke sighed heavily and headed toward the forge, as he was closing the door behind him, he saw the dobe despondently continuing where he left off on the deer. Before long he was near the town wall and outside of the little shack they used to do their business. Gods he missed plumbing and toilets.

_"Dawn?"_ he called through the door and knocked, _"Why don't you come out?" _

_ "Go away!" _she screamed. Sasuke frowned, she sounded distressed, certainly, but also perhaps scared.

_"Is something wrong?"_ there was a short pause before he got a rather explosive response.

_"No! J-just go away!"_ Dear Gods, she was crying, and embarrassed if he was not mistaken.

_"Dawn…is this about what I told you earlier?"_ Sasuke called hesitantly.

_ "I don't care, just go away!"_ He almost wanted to press the matter but, as he well remembered from his youth, Dawn was likely to shut down if he continued to push her. Shaking his head he turned away and went back to the house. Perhaps this would be a good opportunity for Naruto to patch things between them, for the girl clearly did not want her father or siblings around her.

When he entered the house the dobe had just finished skinning the deer. Minuial had her finger out ready to touch the bloody deer, while Tinnu stood several paces away with a wary look on her face. Minuial jerked her finger back and scrunched her face up in disgust. _"It's gross!"_

_"No it's not, it's natural," _the dobe responded as she waved the bloody kunai in front of her. _"Now just touch it already, you're driving me crazy. It's not going to bite! Look!" _ the blonde then took hold of the top front leg and began to saw at the muscle and tendons.

The twins gave cries of disgust and scrambled toward the shop counter. _"It's not gross. Where do you think meat comes from?" _Naruto asked rhetorically, _"The meat-fairy?"_

_ "Maybe…"_ Minuial looked up her mother coyly and the dobe rolled her eyes. Sasuke could not help but chuckle.

Naruto looked over at him and frowned, _"Didn't work?"_ she asked. The twins looked up at them with their childishly wide eyes.

_ "No, but why don't you try,"_ she gave him a skeptical look. He moved toward the table and took the knife from her. _"This is not for hacking off limbs,"_ he waved the kunai in the dobe's face and she stuck her tongue out at him in retaliation. Sasuke set the kunai in the basin they used for washing dishes and grabbed a proper hacking-apart-animals knife.

He waved her away with the cleaver, _"Get her before she catches hepatitis or suffocates,"_ Naruto closed her eyes for a moment, as if trying not to imagine their eldest daughter suffocate from the fumes in the outhouse. At least they had one instead of just dumping waste buckets into the street like half of the Bree population.

_"I'll…just go do that,"_ Naruto quickly fled the room. Sasuke chuckled and deftly chopped off one leg of venison. The twins jumped and made gagging noises.

_"We're having this for dinner, you know,"_

_ "Eww!"_

Naruto fidgeted in front of the outhouse door, Taking a deep breath, but not too deep lest she too "suffocate" – really teme?! She lightly rapped at the door.

_"Go away!"_

Naruto sighed and shook her head, _"Dawn, Sweetie, please talk to me," _it was still inside the outhouse, _"I know you're angry with me for leaving like I had, I don't blame you for being angry. But sweetheart I'm doing everything I can to make up for that, and I understand if I never can make up for it fully but will you let me try at least?_

_ "I'm your mother, and someday you'll hopefully know what I feel for all of you. I was confused when I left and I was angry at your father but…"_ Naruto licked her lips and rested her head against the outhouse door, _"but I could never leave you all, not permanently. I never had a family growing up, other than those I considered close to me. But now I have you three. _

_ "You came from me, and Dawn…I swear, it is the most amazing feeling to carry another life inside of you. A-and I really am glad that I did get to experience that. As a man I never would have, I would have missed out on this miracle and –"_

_ "Please stop talking!"_ Naruto was taken aback by the outburst and even huffed, until his brain registered something. Dawn sounded like she was in discomfort, perhaps even pain.

_"Dawn, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"_ panic gripped her for an agonizingly long moment as she waited for a response.

_"I-I…I'm bleeding…"_ Naruto was about to turn around and grab Sasuke when she replayed her daughter's response. Dawn sounded…she sounded embarrassed.

_"Do you want me to get your father?"_

_ "NO!"_ her immediate and slightly mortified response cleared up any doubts in Naruto's head. She found herself smiling and almost wanting to laugh.

_"Hmm… Let me guess you noticed a blood stain on your undergarments, and you have been having a pain in your lower back and around your pelvis?"_

_ "Yes!" _Naruto heard the latch be pulled back and saw her daughter exit the outhouse with wide eyes, _"How did you know?"_

Naruto stooped down to be eye level with Dawn and winked, _"Because, my precious Dawn, you are having your first visit from the red sister. She should come every month unless you're pregnant,"_ An inexplicable feeling of joy was bubbling up inside of her, and Naruto couldn't stop herself from embracing her daughter and then spinning in place. _"Oh, Dawn, you're a woman now!"_

_ "I-I'm a woman? This is the red sister!?"_ Naruto nodded adamantly and looked around the area.

_"Okay, we'll have to go back to the house for some sand, otherwise you can use leaves, but I've found sand works the best. It's just absorbs more blood before it ruins your clothes," _

_ "What?"_ Dawn did look truly perplexed.

_"You'll put sand in your undergarments and then put another layer of cloth over top of it. It keeps the sister from ruining your clothes, why do you think we have a box of sand in the house?" _Naruto grabbed hold of her daughter's hand and dragged the overwhelmed girl inside their house.

Naruto popped her head inside the main room. Sasuke was already working on salting the venison they wouldn't be eating that night, while the rest was stewing in a pot over the fire. _"Teme, go get some chocolate!"_ she barked. He looked over at her in surprise, though Naruto supposed to the average person he wouldn't have made any apparent reaction. Naruto just looked at him with a deadpan expression and then flickered her eyes over to the rocking chair next to him.

_"Chocolate, right?"_ Naruto nodded to her husband's question and Sasuke quickly moved to put on his boots.

_"Oh Darling, you have a little blood on you, you might want to clean that up first," _ Naruto suggested in the most saccharine tone she could manage. She snickered at his sudden about-face as the teme hurried to clean his arms and face before he was forced to sleep in the chair. Damn right he better fear it.

Dawn regarded her mother with her brows furrowed. She had had a lot to think of when she ran to the outhouse. She had been feeling a pressure building up all day and she wondered if it was a bowel movement but when she got to the noxious outhouse, she found blood on her clothes. She didn't know what was going on and she wasn't really sure where the blood was coming from. So she was horrified when everyone in the family tried to talk to her.

_She_ at least figured it out, and that was a relief, but…Dawn was still angry. Though… Dawn frowned. Maybe she should give her mother another chance. She had been saying comforting things that also brought up questions. If child bearing was such a miracle and joy, why had she left?

She grimaced and dropped down into a fetal position. She breathed out through her nose and winced again. It felt like someone had taken a knife to her insides.

_"I know it's painful,"_ Dawn looked up at her mother and was almost relieved to see empathy. _"Come on, I'll show you what you should do,"_ she was helped to a standing position and they moved out of the forge and into house now that Tousan was out.

_"Ka-kaasan,"_ it seemed strange to call her that, but then her mother looked at Dawn with such shock and elation, that Dawn could not help but feel guilty for having not said in since she came back. _"Why am I having this?"_

This caused her mother to pause in their walking. The twins were staring at them and had even begun to follow them.

_"What's wrong with Nee-chan?"_ Minuial asked and Tinnu nodded her head.

_"Have I not given you this lecture? Well, here's what Tsunade-baa-chan and Sakura-chan told me when I had been insensitive to their womanly pains."_

Sasuke rubbed his temples as he made his way back to the house. He had the damn chocolate, as asked for, but it certainly had taken a chunk out of their budget. He was waiting for that ore shipment. Sasuke would have to let Dawn out on more hunting trips with Haldarad to make up for it, though perhaps he could leave shop and house in the dobe's hands while he went hunting – no, that would end badly. Sasuke sighed for the umpteenth time that day as he opened the door to the shop.

The dobe was drawing something on a paper and their daughters were huddled around her. There were several other pieces of parchment with drawings on them. Sasuke moved further into the room and looked down at one of the pieces of parchment and did a double take. Was that a…?! He thought his eyes were deceiving him and so he picked up the paper, it was what he thought it was

_ "Why was there a diagram of a vagina on the floor?"_ and then Sasuke caught a good look at what his wife and children were huddled over,_ "Are you drawing a—"_

The dobe looked up at him innocently, _"A penis yes, they ought to know how they were born. So as I was saying. Each of you came from this little-itsy-bitsy DNA carrier called a sperm that—"_

_ "Why are you telling them this?!" _Sasuke could not remain calm, this was too much. His daughters weren't even women yet, they didn't need to know about these things. In fact he didn't want them to know about until they were at least-at least…thirty – yes thirty was a reasonable age.

_"Because our baby Dawn became a woman today! And she believed what those idiots out there said about the womb. My ass it travels throughout the body," _Naruto smirked at the blank look on the teme's face. He seemed stupefied. Dawn was covering her face in embarrassment.

_"Did you have to tell him?"_ she groaned and lay down on the ground.

_"Because I knew he would freak out about it," _Naruto began to laugh and she rubbed her hands together in glee. She knew if she was still a man she would also be freaking out, but having to face red sister every month desensitized her. Besides, it was so vindictively wonderful to see mister-stick-up-his-ass have a little mental break down over his daughter's first menstruation.

_"Girls, look at him, he's too horrified to think of a response. Now, as I was saying… sperm leaves the testis and travels past the prostate and exists through the urethra."_

_ "But isn't that for peeing?"_ Minuial asked and Naruto snickered at the teme's horrified expression.

_"For women yes, but men use it for both peeing and ejaculating"_ Naruto's eyes flashed sadistically when she saw the bastard cover his face in his hands, a face that was now bright red.

_"Then…will we get peed on?"_ Tinnu innocently inquired, which appeared to be Sasuke's final straw.

_"No Sweetie, men can't do both at the same time"_ Naruto began to laugh loudly at the hasty exit Sasuke made, clearly too mortified to do anything to stop the sex ed lecture.

Sasuke stayed crouched on the village wall with his head in his hands for an indeterminable amount of time. His face was still burning and somehow he felt what he had witnessed was worse than any tsukyomi he had been subjected to before.

His children knew about sex now, oh gods.

Damn it, Naruto! But then…perhaps this way his daughters won't land themselves into trouble and end up like Miss Wharton. The poor girl gave her virtue away to the town rake and was now going to be trapped in an abusive marriage. She was only getting married to the bastard because she got with child too, she would have been just another notch.

That's it! He needed to make sure the dobe emphasized waiting until marriage, or at least not throwing it away to the first seducer. Part of Sasuke doubted he was the dobe's first intimate relation, like she was his first, but whatever. They would have to make something up – he just would feel more at ease if his daughters understood the ramifications of letting passions cloud judgment.

With much more composure than he had left with, Sasuke reentered the house.

* * *

_**3015**_

Naruto sighed and looked up from the arrays and notes. The teme was writing something down beside her on space-time jutsu and the sharingan.

They had been at it for several hours, and fatigue as starting to set in from the long day of taking care of their daughters and the shop. It was nice that they both did the housework and forge work equally, Naruto had seen some of the frazzled women in town that were ran ragged from all of the house work. It also may have helped that the she occasionally used clones when they were behind on laundry. Gods, it took a full day to do only that chore with all of the family working on it!

Naruto looked up at the moon, whose cool beams illuminated their work along with a lone candle. In the past three years they had made quite a bit of head way in at least the theory behind returning home. The clearest way to do so would be recreate the incident, but they needed something that would tie Naruto back to the other world, like the sage mode had connected her to this world; perhaps the Kyuubi's chakra? It was incompatible with sage mode.

Naruto sighed and looked over at the calendar, only to suck in a deep breath. Sasuke glanced up at her and his brow was furrowed, and Naruto could have sworn he looked concerned. Naruto turned away from him and moved toward the window.

It was so strange to think…it had been fifteen years. She wrapped her arms around herself and looked up at the moon, the oh-so innocent moon. But then again, this moon really was innocent; it held no Juubi at bay. Naruto could not help the shudder that passed through her.

She heard the bastard stand and felt his presence beside her. It was almost comforting, and when he brushed his arm against her arm, she leaned into his warmth.

_"What dobe?"_ Naruto glanced at Sasuke out of the corner of his eye. He had aged well so far, he had a few wrinkles forming around his eyes - perhaps from all the time he spent glairing when they were younger.

_"Do you know what day it is?"_ he furrowed his brow in response so Naruto elaborated. It figures the teme would never think about that day,she sighed, _"Fifteen years ago, the war ended and __**he **__fell."_

She could practically hear Sasuke tense up, but being pressed against his side she felt each muscle tighten and vibrate with tension. With another sigh, Naruto stood up and moved a little away from him. It was no surprise that Sasuke was pale and his face held a hard edge to it that Naruto had not seen since coming to Middle Earth.

_"I see…"_

Naruto ran a hand through her hair and shook her head. _"I know, we were on opposite sides, and Obito was your mentor, sort of…"_

_ "Naruto,"_ the teme snapped her name and she quickly stopped her rambling. She watched him rub his face tiredly, _"I don't want to think about it, I'm different now, but whenever I think of Konoha,"_ Sasuke shook slightly in anger, and Naruto could understand.

For once her long-time rival and once-upon-a-time friend was at peace. He wasn't perpetually angry or striving for power. He was content and happy. He was at peace. He was at peace, and Naruto felt similarly; yet, at the same time she could not help but wonder what could have been.

_"I know Teme,"_ she whispered, and on impulse cupped his cheek, _"I know, and I'm so glad,"_ Naruto bit her lip and inhaled deeply. They were thirty-two almost thirty-three. Practically half their lives had been spent in Middle Earth, and certainly it was the happiest either of them had been. And they would spend the rest of their lives here…

_"Is it bad that I still…still long to be back there, to see if the peace had endured?"_ Naruto asked as she turned away from him.

_"Is it bad that I still want to burn Konoha to the ground?"_ the teme quipped back and Naruto whirled around to glare at him with her lips pulled back in a snarl. However, the bastard did not look vicious or insane, in fact, he looked a little amused. _"Dobe, it was your dream, everything that you had strived for and almost died for, of course it's not bad to want or wonder," _his face hardened and he walked toward Naruto and grabbed her arms, _"But…just don't act on it."_

He looked away and Naruto thought again that they were going to live here the rest of their lives. She licked her lips. There were already in their thirties, and Naruto knew she was going to live an exceptionally longer time than her husband. She swallowed thickly at the new thoughts bombarding her.

_"T-teme," _she shook her head at the stutter _"It's been fifteen years, everyone's probably moved on, had kids, like us…"_

_ "Yes, I'm sure they all have,"_ there was a bitterness to his voice, even resentment, and Naruto could guess at what. She shook her head, just because Konoha was still alive and none of its people were remorseful about what happened to the Uchiha clan….she sighed.

_"What I'm getting at, Teme, is that…that we'll be here for the rest of our lives, as husband and wife…"_ she wetted her suddenly dry lips and cautiously set a hand upon Sasuke's chest, she felt his muscles tense beneath her hand. _"A-and…"_ she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, _"And I want to be like other husbands and wives," _She looked up at him and took a step forward to close the space between them, _"Do ya get what I'm saying?"_

Sasuke could not believe his ears, was the dobe really suggesting what he thought she was suggesting. He hastily stepped backwards but the dobe followed with a determined look in her eyes. Gods she was serious.

_"Dobe, you can't be serious?"_

His question seemed to piss her off and she pushed him against a wall and began to poke him in the chest with each of her next words, _"I'm the one suggesting this, of course I'm serious,"_ she hissed out before folding her arms and glaring at him, _"Teme, I used to be a man, we were enemies, and __**I**__ am still the one suggesting this. I know what I'm saying, and I mean it,"_ Sasuke noted absentmindedly that the dobe was blushing lightly.

_ "You said it yourself, that you're attracted to me, and as much as I hate to admit this, I __**do**__ miss our…nights together,"_ the dobe looked away and blushed brighter. Sasuke truly could not believe what he was hearing.

He wanted to jump out of the way as the dobe moved in to rest her head against his shoulder but he didn't. Part of him also missed those nights, and not solely for the pleasure, but also the closeness and love. He took even breaths through his nose.

_"I…I want to feel like husband and wife again, so…"_ the dobe pulled back a little to look at him and Sasuke felt his face heat up again. _"Besides…it might be good for our daughters, ya know? If we really do behave like a family,"_ Naruto blushed again and fidgeted a little.

Sasuke found the logic sound and he also wanted to be like other husbands with their wives. Yet, this was Naruto…but then Naruto was the one that had given him children, amnesic or not. And the dobe was really quite attractive. He found himself nodding his head and saw the dobe's eyes widen in surprise before something mischievous passed over those toad-like eyes.

_"Perfect, there were a few things I wanted to try from Icha Icha,"_ Sasuke immediately paled yet felt a little warm at the same time.

_"Am I going to feel emasculated?"_ the dobe was already busying her with storing their research in scrolls that they kept well-hidden with an advance seal on them. She threw a sly look over her shoulder and shrugged.

_"That, Teme, is entirely up to you," _the dobe finished the sealing and sashayed over to him with that damn, satisfied smirk. _"You can let yourself feel emasculated or just enjoy it,"_ she reached up and kissed his jaw before pulling on his hand.

Gods, what had he just agreed to? Was it really worth feeling like a family, was it really the best way to help the dobe let go of the past? And why did she have to sway her hips like that.?

Naruto double-checked the calendar like she had every night for the past month, and swallowed thickly while the fox laughed inside of her head. This was not happening! She even went back to the previous month, found the x she had marked on it and then looked for the date she and the teme had…well… Gods she was an idiot! If she had counted it right, she really shouldn't be surprised. Perhaps she should wait another week, just in case.

_**"Don't delude yourself brat,"**_ she huffed at the fox's comment and went to her room where the teme was dressing for bed. He looked over at her and quirked an eyebrow, perhaps he could tell something was upsetting her.

_"I'm late,"_ Naruto stated bluntly and held her breath as she waited for a response.

Sasuke blinked several times as he tried to work out what the dobe meant. She was late for bed? Late for a payment? _"You're late for what?"_ Sasuke asked slowly. Naruto gave him a deadpan look, but that did not help him figure out what she was late for in the least.

Sasuke gave the dobe his own deadpan look and she sighed in irritation. _"Haven't you ever wondered why I mark the calendar with x's, d's, and t's?"_ Sasuke furrowed his brow and shook his head. He always figured it was some event or reminder for her.

She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, and shook her head. _"Seriously, you've never wondered?"_

_ "Well why don't you tell me because you're making no sense,"_ Sasuke snapped, he was annoyed with how the dobe was acting. Was what she was saying common sense or something? For Sasuke certainly did not know what significance was behind being late for her x's, t's, and d's.

_"I mark when the red sister visits me and the girls, except Minu hasn't gotten her visit yet" _the dobe stated bluntly and once it clicked Sasuke sat down heavily.

_"You're late for your menstruation?"_ Sasuke asked out of clarification, and partly out of hope that he had misinterpreted her. But the dobe just nodded and sat down next to him on the bed. _"How late?"_

_ "A month,"_ Sasuke swallowed and pinched the bridge of his nose. They weren't financially ready for another child. Damn it! He should have resisted.

_"And you only now are telling me?"_ Naruto glared at him and stood up in a huff.

_"I thought perhaps it was thrown off because we did it,"_

_ "Yes, that's called pregnancy,"_ Naruto glared at him sharply and Sasuke fell back on the bed.

_"I didn't mean it that way. I mean we hadn't done it in a long time, ya know, and I thought maybe it was off because of that and not because ya know…"_ the blonde ended feebly and bowed her head.

_"What does the fox say?"_ Sasuke sighed and lifted himself onto his arms to better look at the dobe. She was glaring at the wall behind him with her arms folded under her bust again.

_"Kurama's laughing, but I don't trust that to mean I am pregnant,"_

Sasuke sighed again and motioned the dobe over, _"It's been a month and a half, so it's possible the chakra pathways have formed."_ Sasuke exhaled sharply when the dobe straddled him by sitting heavily on his stomach. Of course the dobe couldn't not to sit down beside him like any sane person would have; instead, she had to knock the air out of him by sitting on him.

He rolled his eyes at her before he gently began to circulate chakra into his hand to see if he could feel another chakra or well, anything. He frowned. He wasn't getting a good read, partly because of all the chakra coursing through the blonde, and partly because of the clothes.

He reached around the blonde and began to unlace the vest/corset like thing that apparently acted like a bra, according to the dobe. She ended up helping him since the angle was a little awkward. Sasuke then grabbed the hem of the dress and under-dress that was pooled on either side of him and jerked the garments up and over the dobe's head. She gave a noise of protest, apparently she didn't think he would remove all of the obstructing clothes.

She glared down on him but Sasuke focused on his examination, rather than his mostly naked and annoyed wife. Sasuke did another sweep when he felt it, something very small but foreign. There were no chakra yet, but that was to be expected. It was always variable when a fetus would begin to form its own chakra.

_"Well dobe, it would appear we need to start budgeting for another mouth,"_

Naruto looked down at him and blinked a few times before a hesitant smile took over her features, _"I guess it would be kind of nice to have another baby…I do miss it," _Sasuke chuckled and was about to move the blonde off of him when she swooped down to kiss him. She slid her lower half down his body slightly and gave him a mischievous grin when she pulled away, _"Neh, Sasuke-teme, I think we should celebrate,"_ Sasuke stifled a groan when she rocked her hips against him.

_"So long as you're not on top again,"_ The dobe scoffed at him.

_"Fat chance Teme,"_

Dawn couldn't help but feel excited with the rest of her family. Kaasan was expecting another child. Part of Dawn was bitter that the child would never have to live without her like they had, but another part of was happy that that wouldn't happen to the new child. Kaasan was only three months along, according to Tousan, but that only meant six months until their new sibling was born.

The twins were ecstatic that they would no longer be the babies of the family. Though, they were already working to save as many coppers as possible for when the baby came, and that meant living more sparsely than usual. They were certainly used to it from when Kaasan had abandoned them, but there was always a little adjusting to do. And then they also had to worry about Kaasan's increased appetite.

Sighing at her mother's bottomless stomach, Dawn looked up to see her father coming down the stairs; he had this little smile on his face. He might be worried about how they were going to afford the new baby, but he was just as happy if not more happy than any of them, with the exception of Kaasan.

_"Kaasan's still asleep?"_ Dawn questioned from where she was sharpening weapons they put on display. Tousan nodded and began to prepare breakfast.

_"Dawn,"_ he called her attention and she set down the whet stone and sword she had been working on, _"Could you make sure the package for Mr. Coalhollow is wrapped and behind the store counter,"_ She nodded and stood up to collect the desire items.

Sasuke found himself smiling wistfully as he sat down for breakfast with the girls. The dobe had often been tired around this time during her other pregnancies. After breakfast he made up another plate set the twins to washing the dishes with Dawn's supervision.

With a plate in one hand and a cup in the other hand he carefully moved up the stairs and used his foot to open their bedroom door. He paused and frowned. The dobe was wide awake, usually he had to shake Arad awake. Sasuke's eyes immediately locked onto her drawn expression and…oh Gods no.

Sasuke nearly dropped the dishware, but instead hastily moved to kneel beside the bed and set the dishes on the floor. He tried to get the dobe to look at him, but her gaze was transfixed on her hands that were cupped in her lap. He stood up and pulled back the sheets further. It was real….they lost the baby: the blood all over the bed, the blood on Naruto's hands, and the little fetus resting in her open palms. It was all real.

_"Naruto"_ Sasuke whispered and knelt down on the ground in front of the blonde. _"Naruto,"_ he called again and reached up to cup her face. He could feel the stickiness of drying tears.

_"It's dead,"_ the blonde stated quietly and in confusion, _"I woke up with this pain," _she finally pried her eyes away from the…the baby and looked Sasuke in the eye, _"And there was so much blood with this…with our baby," _The dobe began to cry again and slid off the bed and onto his lap. He held the dobe close and felt tears of his own. He knew people often lost children, especially without proper medical attention, but it was still unexpected and painful.

_"Tousan? Kaasan?"_ Tinnu's voice drifted to Sasuke and he grimaced. _"What happened?"_

_ "Later, Tinnu, just…" _Sasuke swallowed thickly while the dobe hid her face in the crook of his neck, _"Go get water for the bath, shovel it from outside with your sisters," _

_"Tousan why's there blood on the sheets?" _Naruto clutched him tighter, one hand still holding onto the dead fetus.

_"Tinnu, I said later," _his voice broke in the middle of his speech and came out raw sounding.

_"Do I use the tub in the forge?" _she asked and he nodded curtly without looking at her. Sasuke heard her hurry down the stairs and he instantly regretted how harsh he had been.

Sasuke slowly stood up and shifted Naruto into a bridal position. She wasn't crying anymore, but she looked ready to. He grabbed clothes for them and began the slow descent down the stairs. She was staring at the fetus again, her expression lost and pained.

When they made it to the forge the girls had already filled the tub up with snow, and Sasuke gently set the dobe on her feet as he ran through hand signs to melt the snow into water and heat it to a good degree. However, Naruto crumbled to her knees, unable to support her weight after the miscarriage.

_"Kaasan!"_ the twins called out in concern, but it was Dawn who was at the dobe's side first.

_"Now will you tell us what happened?"_ Tinnu asked while Sasuke continued to focus on heating the water up.

Dawn gasped and hugged the catatonic blonde. _"Oh Kaasan,"_ she chanted and swayed back and forth. She must have seen the fetus.

_"What's that?"_ Minuial asked, pointing to the fetus in Naruto's hand. Dawn quickly sat up and took the twins out of the room. Sasuke threw her look that said thanks and gently began to help Naruto out of her nightgown. The cloth stuck to her bloodied legs, but soon he was stripping and easing them both into the hot water.

Sasuke began to gently scrub away at the partially dried blood on the dobe's legs.

_"Sasuke, why did it die?"_ He almost didn't hear her, she whispered the words so lowly. Sasuke rested his lips against her shoulder and shook his head.

_"I don't know, Naruto, I don't know,"_ They sat there in the steaming water, both of them looking down at the little almost-being.

_"We can bury it, make a little grave,"_ he whispered after a long contemplating silence. Naruto slowly turned around to face him. She nodded and wrapped her arms around Sasuke,

_ "I still wish…"_ the dobe closed her eyes and tucked her head beneath his chin.

_"I know dobe, but perhaps it wasn't meant to be, not yet at least," _he knew the dobe was crying again and he wrapped his arms tightly around her. _"We can try again if you would like,"_ she shook her head and Sasuke frowned.

_"Not for a while, Teme, please?"_

_ "Of course," _

* * *

_**3016 December**_

After the miscarriage the dobe threw herself into research. Theoretically they were close, very close. Sasuke would have been worried she would run off to Konoha, except she needed him to get back there. They had tried to find arrays that would work like the sharingan technique but it was for naught. There was no way to replicate a sharingan technique.

Sasuke sighed, and wiped at the soot on his brow. He walked out of the forge and looked over at the calendar, only to grimace. He wished Naruto had not told him her method for keeping track of menstruations, for now he was horrifically aware that all of his girls were indeed women. Minuial was the last one, and now they were all technically eligible for marriage. Indeed, Sasuke had received several requests for any one of his daughter's hands, of course the men that asked were the most desperate – usually in need of some dowry, any kind of dowry.

The only request Sasuke even begrudgingly considered was from Haldarad, who kindly said he was content to wait for Dawn's hand until she was ready to wed and Sasuke deemed her ready too. He respected the ranger, for he_ was_ respectful and Haldarad was useful for warding off suitors for his eldest daughter. Still, he had never agreed, and Naruto always gave him a disapproving look. It wasn't like his word was important other than to custom, for the two already knew he was not too opposed to the possibility of them getting married, and if they wanted to elope they could certainly try.

Sasuke sighed and wished for Aragorn's return, he missed fighting against another skilled swordsman. True Tinnu was very skilled in her own right, but she knew the same style that he did since he had been teaching her.

_"Teme, it's going to storm tonight,"_ Naruto stated and stood in front of him with her hands on her hips.

_"Hn,"_

_ "A really big snow storm," _she added again.

_"Hn,"_

Naruto rolled her eyes, _"So let's go spar,"_ she stated and Sasuke quickly shook his head.

_"I'd rather do that during the storm than have all my efforts wasted when it hits Bree,"_ If the dobe was thoroughly worn out before a storm she usually ended up as wired as she would have been if they had not sparred earlier.

The dobe gave him a sly, playful smile, _"I thought you could wear me out another way tonight."_

Sasuke blinked a few times, they hadn't really been intimate since the miscarriage. The dobe was reluctant to have it happen again, so this was obviously a large step toward recovery for her, but he still shook his head

_ "Dobe, no one but you would have the stamina necessary for that,"_ he stated as he leaned against the display counter. The dobe immediately frowned but then began to smirk, and Sasuke had a feeling he was going to be humiliated. She practically stalked toward him and part of Sasuke was tempted to substitute out of the way.

_"Really? Because I seem to recall several stormy nights where you went __**all**__ night,"_ Naruto's suggestive smile and purr only hammered in the final nail to his humiliation coffin. Gods, why did she have to be so….so sexually inclined. Damn pervert sage, Sasuke wished Pein had killed the bastard sooner so the blonde would have had less exposure to that pervert.

Sasuke coughed in embarrassment, and looked away from his wife. Of course he felt his face heat further because he was now looking at Minuial who had paused in her trek upstairs to look at her parents in confusion. _"That was over ten years ago" _he hissed, which caused the dobe to cackle and drape her arms around his neck.

_"Oh I'm sure you still have it in you," _Sasuke chose to believe he shuddered in disgust and not because she was whispering into his ear. Then a thought occurred to him, a reason as to why she was being so…persistent. He motioned Minuial to continue her ascent and she scampered off looking a little uncomfortable. The dobe was frowning slightly now at his change in demeanor.

Sasuke smirked and planted his hands on her hips. The dobe jumped slightly in surprise. He pulled her hips against his and brought his lips to her ear, he felt her shiver against him.

_"Dobe,"_ he paused and could practically feel the dobe quiver in his arms, _"If you're going to be so insistent, then why not now? We'll have to leave the shop in Dawn's hands for a little while, we don't want to scar our children for life…"_ and just as he suspected the dobe's resolve crumpled, she wasn't ready not really.

Naruto fidgeted in place. She could feel the teme smirking against her jaw next to her ear. She shuddered at the feeling. She felt aroused, certainly, but she was scared all of a sudden.

Who had she been trying to kid? She wasn't ready to risk getting pregnant again, and with no contraceptives either of them wanted to use – because they had tried using an animal sink as a condom back in the Old Forest and they did not want to resort to that again – she would have to chance it.

She had hormones still and she did miss the closeness and love, but was it worth that pain again? Naruto had hoped that maybe being a conductor for natural energy when the baby was conceived would help it live to birth, but now she was too afraid to try. Why did the teme have to see through her motives?

She slipped out of his hold and heard the bastard chuckle behind her and she shot her hardest glare back at him, but the effect would have been ruined by her burning cheeks.

Naruto moved toward the window and rubbed her face tiredly. She heard the teme stop his laughing and heard him shift around a little. Perhaps he would have a worried look on his face, perhaps not. She was not sure because her memoires of Konoha said one thing while her memories of Crick Hollow said another. Sasuke was a different man now, but was Naruto any different from Konoha?

Yes, she was different, she had given up… Naruto inhaled sharply and set her hands heavily on the windowsill.

She had given up on her dreams, and that was something she would have never done in Konoha. And now, she was tired of trying to find a way back to Konoha. It felt pointless and she was forcing herself to do the research. She didn't enjoy it anymore, she only stubbornly tried to work at it, but it was becoming too much. She felt so tired and she actually wanted to give up, but that wasn't like her, that wasn't who she was supposed to be.

The teme…_he _had certainly changed, but for the better. He was happy and full of energy; and Naruto just felt tired, felt like she had given up everything she was. But had she, had she really?

_"Naruto?"_ the teme was behind her, concern laced his voice. She could practically feel his warmth against the draft seeping in through the window. After being alone for so much of her life, it was wonderful to have this source of comfort, physical comfort. She leaned into his body and he wrapped his arms around her. Funny, the teme did that as if it was second nature. He, no _they_, really had changed. They weren't enemies anymore, they were…they really were husband and wife, perhaps even friends.

_"I gave up on everything I was…"_ she felt him tense and she sighed, _"Sasuke you've changed for the better by coming here, but I gave up. Have I changed for the better? Or have I lost something?"_

Naruto held her breath as she waited for him to respond, and the teme took his sweet time. _"I would say you're more level headed, nurturing – in fact, both of us are,"_ she felt him bow his head into her hair which she had grown out at the request of the girls who missed playing with it. _"Besides, you haven't given up, you were forced away, and if you decided to go back there, wouldn't you be giving up us, your family?"_

Those words landed on her heavily, almost like a blow. Naruto breathed out shakily. She did have a family here, she had not actively given up on Konoha or the Elemental Lands, but still… _"It just feels like there's so many loose ends, things I can't ignore or forget about."_

_ "So you want another child to distract yourself, is that?"_ Naruto sighed at the teme's observation. His voice was mixed parts understanding and resentment. She couldn't forget about Konoha like he could, she couldn't pretend. _"Dobe, you have the girls, they're enough to handle as is,"_ Naruto nodded jerkily, they were a handful, certainly.

_"But Teme, other than you and the girls, what's tying me to this place? I have no connections to these Middle Earthlings, you have Strider-san, but me? Who? I have the girls, and I will lay down my life for them, but who in this world can I call friend?"_ Naruto turned around in his arms and shook her head, _"Teme, I can't let go of that world like you can. There are so many loose ends, questions I need answered! I gave all I had to bring peace there, and I wake up at night wondering if it lasted past the graves being dug."_

_ "What about Goldberry?" _the teme sounded angry, and even confused. Naruto scoffed and shook her head.

_"Goldie and Tom forget and live in their own little world. Besides, whatever is in the East is scaring Goldie, even though Tom won't let it touch her. They'll go into hiding soon, they'll be absent like so often,"_

The teme's brow was furrowed and his eyes were hard, _"Then do your magic and make friends."_

_ "Who?"_ Naruto shot back, she pulled out of his hold and crossed her arms under her bust, _"The men won't give me the time of day because I'm a woman. And the women,"_ Naruto scoffed and shook her head, _"Simpering, with no backbone. They wait on their husbands and children like they have no ambitions. They don't fight and seldom are these Bree women taught anything past their letters," _Naruto sighed and shook her head again. _"I miss Sakura, and Ino, and just everyone."_

_ "Do you really think another child will help you forget them, let them go?"_ the teme was whispering and Naruto sighed again. She set her head tiredly against his shoulder and let him wrap his arms back around her. How had she gone her whole childhood and adolescent years without physical comfort? She had been deprived of so much.

_"No, but it'll distract me. Teme, I don't think I can handle another miscarriage"_ she whispered against him and heard him sigh.

Dawn snuck from the room and made sure her sisters were following them. Kaasan and Tousan seemed distracted with their own thoughts. Indeed she felt a little lost in her own thoughts.

They made it outside without detection. It was cold, almost bitterly cold. Dawn could smell snow on the wind, lots of it. She sat down heavily onto the icy well lip and watched as Tinnu heedlessly sank to the ground while Minuial fidgeted about.

Part of Dawn wanted to scream and rage at her mother, to curse her for lying to them, for deluding them, for making them think she would never leave again. Yet another part, the part that had heard the lectures repeatedly and that loved Haldarad, felt sympathetic. Kaasan had been forced from all that she had loved and knew. She really had no one here with which she had a connection like Ojisan and Tousan. She didn't want her to leave again, yet her mother wouldn't no matter how much it tormented her.

_ "She's going to leave us again, isn't she?"_ Minuial asked in sindarian lest they be overheard. She was gnawing at her bottom lip in anxiety while shifting her weight from one foot to the other. None of them wanted Kaasan to leave them again, it would hurt them all too much if she did.

Tinnu shook her head and wetted her lips, _"I don't think she will…"_ she didn't sound too sure of herself and Dawn could understand why. She bit her lip before she exhaled into the bitter wind.

_"Mother won't leave us again, no matter how much it's killing her to know what she had left behind, she won't leave us again. She just…she just misses everyone and everything."_ The twins looked at her in shock and she felt her face heat from more than the cold, _"I know…I've changed my tune, but I think I understand now._

_ "It's like if someone suddenly took me away from Haldrad and without my conscious consent married me to someone I hated. Everything I hoped to achieve would be lost forever with no way to retain it. … Maybe I'd find happiness, eventually, and that would make me want to stay, but I would never have gotten to say goodbye…" _Dawn licked her lips and shook her head again.

_ "Mother never got closure, she just needs closure or-or something to let go of the past and tie her more firmly to here,"_

The twins looked down at the hard and frost bitten ground. They had identical expressions: hard eyes, furrowed brow, lips drawn into a firm line. It was an expression Kaasan made. They were thinking hard about it. Dawn looked up at the sky and frowned, small dots of snow were already drifting down lazily from the sky.

_"We should head inside,"_ she began and brushed off imaginary dirt from her numb posterior. She was shaking a little, it was so very cold outside and the grey clouds filled with snow only made it that much more cold. She shook her head. Perhaps this would be a good way to usher in the new year, the snow would be like a blank slate, it would be new. Everything would be new, and maybe, just maybe, Kaasan would feel new too and come to love this world.

Minuial was the first inside the house but she quickly turned around and about ran into them. Her eyes were wide and her face was pale, but she looked fluster. _"Let's go to the Prancing Pony for a little while?"_ she whispered in their native tongue. When Tinnu tried to push past her Minuial grabbed hold of her and began walking back through the forge, _"Trust me, I think Kaasan and Tousan are trying for a baby,"_

That decided it, they quickly fled through forge and made toward the inn. It was packed and packed with people who had come up from the Greenway. They were surly people and they made the Bree folk uncomfortable. Well it was better than home for the time being, but these grimy travelers, or were they mercenaries, better keep their hands to themselves or they may just find said appendage pinned to the table with a kunai.

Sasuke shifted in the bed, he could feel the dobe's chakra rising as the storm outside increased. With a groan he sat up and looked blearily around the dim room. Rubbing sleep from his eyes he could see the dobe was wide awake and practically glowing. He shook his head and began to search for clothes.

_"Come on dobe, let's have that spar before you explode,"_ the dobe didn't respond and he sighed as he pulled up his breeches. _"What is it?"_

_ "What if I'm pregnant and it kills the baby?"_ Sasuke shook his head, and tossed the dobe her underdress.

_"Not possible, it would take more than a few hours to for the sperm to reach the egg, and according to the calendar you probably haven't ovulated yet."_

The dobe flushed but hastily put on her clothes. Sasuke smirked and moved closer to her, _"Besides, a little spar won't hurt anything,"_ She shoved him as she searched for her heavy wool dress.

After a few more minutes of searching they were wrapped in their cloaks with their leather boots on and weapons hidden up their sleeves. _"I wonder where the girls are?"_ Sasuke frowned at the dobe's statement and wondered that as well but then the dobe began to search for their energy signatures. She cackled _"They're at the Prancing Pony, and ruffling a few feathers if I'm not mistaken,"_

Sasuke smirked, it was likely one of those foul looking men offended one of his daughters and they retaliated. Good, Bree could do with a few less of those brutes. Just because they had the money to ask for repairs, didn't mean he had to like the creeps. They had been showing up more and more as the years went on and Sasuke could not wait for them to just leave Bree permanently. The Greenway men came in cycles, eventually they would leave, but then they would return with more men.

_"I'm sure they're doing just fine,"_

Tinnu laughed loudly with her twin as they dodged their respective attackers. Butterbur looked like he was about to faint or have a heart attack, but these bastards started it! No one groped her like that or talked to her sisters like they were-were common street women!

She smirked maliciously, consequently mimicking Minuial, and slipped into her attackers guard. She made three quick jabs at the drunk Greenway-er, one at the solar plexus, another at the gut and the last at his throat as he bent over his stomach. This was too easy! He crumbled to the ground gagging and choking for breath. Tinnu spun around with a round house kick at the drunk trying to take her by surprise.

With a feral grin she crouched down and watched the drunk man skid across the tavern floor. Her eyes caught Minuial playing with her opponent. She danced out of his wild attempts to grab her and would suddenly slip behind him and poke him in the back. She gave an excited giggle and ducked under a wild swing as he swiveled around.

Dawn had never been very good at hand-to-hand combat, but she was certainly holding her own. She blocked more than evaded and she used her opponent's force against him. She usually ended up flipping men twice her size over her shoulder and would then strike her hand against their windpipe to incapacitate them.

Tinnu felt the hair on the back of her neck tingle and through a mirror behind the bar she saw a Greenway-er trying to sneak up on her. She lazily flipped out of the way and dropped down into a crouch before she kicked the bastard's legs out from under him.

She stood up and flipped her braid over her shoulder. Far too easy. She smirked and noted her sisters were no longer fighting either. Butterbur was just shaking his head at them and Tinnu could not help but smile mischievously along with her sister.

"But Mr. Butterbur, they were the one's making trouble!" Minuial stated, fidgeting in front of barkeeper. He shook his head in disbelief.

One of the waitress came up to Dawn hesitantly at the same time Minuial was talking to Butterbur, "Thank you, Mi'Lady, they were getting uncontrollable. If one them had put their hands on me again, I would have quit" she looked around quickly and then fled from Dawn's presence. Tinnu smirked again. That would teach these Greenway scoundrels.

It was snowing heavily now, almost like there was a grey film to the night. Sasuke smirked, his normal sharingan activated, he had no intention of using any of the advanced sharingan techniques. He imagined the dobe was grinning at him too but the darkness of night made it difficult to discern her expression.

He had out his _kusanagi_ while the dobe held up two kunai in her hands. The wind shifted and that was the cue. To the untrained eye, they would have disappeared, instead they met in the middle of the clearing where kunai clashed with sword and a mighty clang of metal resounded through the forest. A spark from the strike illuminated the dobe for one brief moment, she was indeed grinning and her toad eyes were practically glowing.

They broke apart from the deadlock and Sasuke sent a volley of shuriken at the dobe who dodged it. He felt her chakra in one of the surrounding trees. Then he felt a surge and about a hundred new chakra signatures. He smirked and felt a laugh bubble up through his chest. The same old dobe, the same old tactics.

It was to be a non-lethal spar. No rasengan, no chidori. Only low level jutsu were allowed, and as much trickery as in any real shinobi battle. Sasuke smirked and substituted himself with one of the dobe's clones while placing a henge on it. Some of the clones had caught on and were surrounding him. He quickly dispatched a handful of them but they were quickly overwhelming him in sheer numbers. A quick kawarimi with a log got him out of the situation and with several kunai he dispatched the clones before they could blink.

Sasuke flipped out of the way of the dobe, or one of her clones, and entered back into the clearing where he began to dodge punch after punch, and slipped out of repeated grabs from clones. It took him a moment to realize the dobe was trying to lead him somewhere and when he heard the snap of a tripwire he cursed. He rolled forward and managed to escape several kunai, but a few still made their mark and then saw the smoldering tag.

He hastily jerked the knives out of his body and threw them from himself until he looked around him in the dark. There were small glowing and smoking tags all around him.

Damn! _"Explosion tags, this is supposed to be non-lethal" _he hissed into the howling wind before he used a body-flicker to get out of the way. He could hear several dobe's laughing around him.

_"Not explosion, teme"_

_ "Ink tags"_

_ "Glue tags"_

_ "Immobilization tags," _fucking fuinjutsu.

Sasuke cursed and jumped back into tree cover. It was amazing how quickly the dobe could set up a trap, and it was also alarming how well she could anticipate his movements. He smirked. He loved their spars; it was always a challenge, and always exhilarating.

He used a few more kunai to dispatch the dobe's clones, who were likely staying in the clearing as bait for another trap. His eyes flashed for a moment as he came to a sudden solution for the traps. Sasuke ran through the hand signs for the grand fireball and aimed at the clearing. He would not fall for another trap, yes he might expose his position, but it would eliminate any embarrassing surprises.

He heard several dobes curse at him and was aware they had all fled the clearing. _"Like you said, teme!"_ Naruto or a clone shouted.

_"This is supposed to be non-lethal"_

_"I know, I'm thinning out your traps"_ he jumped to the side as one dobe tried to tackle him out of the tree while the clearing continued to smolder.

He quickly cut its arm with the _kusanagi_ and it dispersed in a puff of smoke. He raced through the surrounding trees and did his best to suppress his chakra, but he was at a disadvantage to begin with, what with the dobe being in sage mode. He rolled to the side along a branch as one dobe crashed into the same tree branch. She was snarling at him and charged.

One hit from the hilt of his sword dispelled the clone and he used kawarimi to flee the area and work to eliminate a few more pesky clones.

Naruto smirked from her hiding position as she watched the teme take out more and more of her clones. She made a few more but placed a few little surprises on them for the teme. They drove him back into the clearing, and one of her newer clones actually managed to grab hold of him before he tried to dispel it, but then the seal she had placed on it was activated.

Naruto smirked and entered the clearing. Paralysis, she had been working on this one for some time and was quite satisfied with the results. She sashayed toward where the teme was glaring at her with his sharingan spinning angrily.

_"You lose,"_ she sang, and moved to kiss him on the cheek when his skin started to fall off like peeling wall paper and morphed into crows. She jerked backwards in alarm. What the hell?! No, he did not just! Damn it! He did. She groped for a kunai and quickly stabbed herself in the leg.

When she came back to, she could see the teme smirking at her.

_"That was a tie,"_ she shouted and he began to chuckle. Bastard.

_"I know. Now deactivate this damn seal, and we'll have a rematch"_

* * *

_**3017 March**_

Aragorn looked up at the walls surrounding Bree. It was a welcome sight after so many years in the bleak wilderness surrounding Mordor. He wondered what would happen when he entered. Would his honorary nieces tackle him to the ground? Would he have more nieces and nephews waiting to meet their Uncle Strider.

His smile fell at one thought. What if Arad had regained her memories? Dû had been so certain she would kill his daughters and him. There was the sickening possibility that no one would be there looking forward to his return. The thought made his stomach drop and a cold feeling to move up his spine. Pulling his cloak closer around him he continued his march toward the village gate.

Soon he was on the main street, which had changed little since last he was here. Small piles of snow were melting here and there, mostly at the north-facing walls of buildings. He saw the villagers give him wary looks and he noted with disease that there were many foul looking men, men who looked like mercenaries or spies for the East. Aragorn glared at them beneath his hood as he moved down the well beaten path.

As he came closer and closer to the blacksmith shop his heart began to pound loudly in his own ears. Had he been too long absent? Had something horrible happened that perhaps he could have prevented? Had one of the girls died, children in Bree seldom lived to adulthood. He breathed deeply through his nose and nearly expressed his relief at the familiar sign hanging above the blacksmith shop.

_Nature's Forge_. The name had made no sense the first time he came to repair his sword but after Arad had shared her story he quickly understood. She was Nature's daughter and without any other knowledge of their past lives it must have seemed like the best name for their shop.

He opened the door and heard the bell jingle above him. At first he thought perhaps he had come to the wrong place. The woman, or perhaps young woman, behind the counter had slate colored hair, not blonde hair. She had a greeting on the tip of her tongue when she looked up from what she had been doing. She gasped and before Aragorn knew what was going on, he was enveloped in a bone crushing hug.

_"Uncle!"_she cried in sindarin and the ranger felt so much older than he had ever felt before. This was Dawn. He tilted her face up and indeed her features may have thinned but they were the same.

_"Dawn, I nearly didn't recognize you,"_ he hugged the girl back and suddenly felt a sense of loss. He had missed so much of her life already. Was she engaged yet, had someone asked for her hand?

_"What did you expect, I'm nearly fifteen!"_ she pulled back from the hug and gave him a bright smile. _"Uncle I missed you so much, so much has happened,"_ her smile fell slightly and her eyes held a touch of sadness and guilt twisted in his stomach, but he had been on a mission he hoped would keep this family safe from the Eye for a little while longer.

_"Sister whose…"_Aragorn turned at the new voice which came from the stairs. The person had spoken sidarian, nearly flawless sindarain. A head was peeking around the corner and the ranger felt his eyes widen in shock. This had to be one of the twins, and based on the lines under the girl's eyes, it had to be Minuial.

"Minuial, is that you? You should be no taller than my knee," it was amazing and alarming. He had missed so very, very much.

The girl's eyes widened and suddenly he was tackled by the girl who came up to his stomach. Dawn was chuckling beside them, while the thirteen-year-old kept shouting _"Uncle's back, Uncle's back"_ he had feared the twins might have forgotten about him – they had been ever so young when he left.

There was the sound of another set of feet entering the room and an excited cry of _"Uncle!"_ he felt another body run into him and he could hear Dawn laughing without restraint.

The twins, they were so grown up. He could not believe it.

Then the forge door opened and an irritated Dû exited. He was pinching the bridge of his nose and spoke in that strange tongue, _"Girls you know your mother is sleeping and anxious. Just because you want to tease your sis…"_ the man finally looked up and his words faltered. When he took in the ranger's appearance his mouth literally fell open.

"Strider?" Aragorn felt himself grin and nodded his head curtly. The blacksmith was shaking his head, "Eight years and you don't look a day older, you're like the dobe," the man looked quite annoyed by this development and the twins were snickering.

"Is that any way to greet a friend?" Aragorn asked, chuckling at his fellow swordman's behavior. Dû, shook his head and returned Aragorn's grin with a smirk of his own.

"Believe me, I think I'm entitled to be a little annoyed if I'm the only who ages around here" he walked toward Aragorn and extended his arm and they shook hands like men of war. "By the way, you can call me Sasuke now. The dobe regained her memories," the blacksmith looked toward the stairs and Aragorn furrowed his brow.

"I am glad your fears were not realized," Dû, no _Sasuke_, gave a non-committal noise and Aragorn looked toward his nieces who looked downcast. "What happened?" Dawn sighed and motioned him to follow her after Sasuke nodded his head and started to head up toward the stairs. The twins looked around but decided to follow Aragorn and Dawn out into the town.

Dawn bit her lip in thought. She could remember seven years ago when she would have given anything to have her uncle back so she could talk to him about this, about all of her confusion, anger, and fear. But now that he was here, what was she to say. The conflict had been resolved, and though part of Dawn feared their mother would abandon them again, she knew it would not come to pass.

Kaasan was with child again, and Tousan was checking on the fetus every day. They were doing everything to keep the baby alive this time. Kaasan was even eating all these different plants and fruits and nuts to meet "required" vitamins for the baby and her, though Dawn thought it was odd her appetite had not increased with the pregnancy. Kaasan also had stopped training or watching them train. It was strange, but Dawn figured she was just worried about the baby.

_"Mother had not taken it well, she… she left us,"_ Dawn looked down at the still frozen earth. It was thawing out slowly but surely, and there was more and more mud with each passing day.

Ojisan's brow was furrowed and he cast a look back toward the house, _"She eventually came back after she had cooled down but…she had left us for nearly two years," _ Dawn felt that old resentment burn in her chest and she could not help but glare out in front of her. Tinnu was at her side and wrapped her arm in hers and it was a small comfort. Minuial was on the other side of Ojisan and she was fidgeting.

_"Mother was simply confused, terribly confused," _Minuial stated in defense for their mother.

_"Yes, terribly confused," _Tinnu nodded her head and the girls snickered in unison. _"After all, she remembered her old life as a man," _

_"And she and Father hated each other so much," _Minuial finished for her twin and they started to laugh at Ojisan's astounded reaction. It was hidden partially by his hood but they could still see it.

Dawn snickered to herself while she cast a look around them at the villagers. They did not pay much heed to them, other than the occasional glare. It was quite common that Dawn would be seen by them walking through the village with a ranger, they likely assumed Ojisan was Haldarad, eww! The Bree-folk were also used to the twins laughing at Haldarad so they were not drawing too much attention. It might be nice to escape into the woods for a little while.

_"Your mother had been a man?"_ she could hear him swallow and all three of them nodded.

_"Yes but Mother no longer thinks of herself as such,"_ Dawn stated as they neared the village gates. She had her bow with her out of reflex and the twins had kunai up their sleeves.

Dawn let the ranger digest her previous statement before she spoke again, and by this point the town gate was closed behind them, _"She is struggling, certainly, but she will not leave us again,"_

_"So she had left because she remembered being a man and her hate for your father?"_

The twins shifted uncomfortably at the question and Dawn thought she saw guilt flash across their faces. She too felt a little guilty from time to time, now that she understood, but it was their mother's choice to stay here. They knew their mother was happy, yes, but not completely happy. She would never forget the Elemental Lands, and she would never forget all she had sacrificed for its people.

_"There is more then?"_ Dawn nodded to her uncle's question and now at the tree line she jumped up onto a branch, the twins followed suit. Ojisan was gaping up at them, but just shook his head as if berating himself for being shocked. The twins were snickering again and Dawn felt a swell of pride at having shocked her uncle even for a moment.

Ojisan followed them from the ground and Dawn hopped from low branch to low branch; however, she had to climb higher less they snap beneath her weight. _"What else had driven Arad away?"_ the ranger questioned while moving a branch out of his way.

_"It is complicated, and we do not know the whole story,"_ Dawn began and jumped down in to the clearing they had come to. She fiddled with her arrows and looked anywhere but at her uncle. She could feel his curious and concerned gaze. The twins dropped down in front of them and began to do a few stretches.

_"Father and Mother were on opposite sides in a war,"_ Minuial stated as she stretched her legs by crouching down and extending one leg out to the side. Tinnu created a mirror image of her sister.

_"They never talk about what the war was over and Father becomes…"_Tinnu scrunched her brow as she searched for the right word.

_"Cold, terrifying, insane"_ Dawn supplied and shuddered. It was never pleasant to see them talking about the Elemental Lands. They always stopped when they sensed one of them and if they spied on them from the windows they quickly turned away.

Their father was not meant to look crazed or betrayed. Their father was gentle and kind in his own way. He seldom showed emotions, but the emotions he did show were always of a pleasant nature. He was indulgent, and caring. Yet talking about the Elemental Lands showed a horrifying counter mask of insanity, cruelty, betrayal, and hate. Dawn shuddered again and saw her sisters were similarly affected.

Ojisan looked troubled and leaned heavily against the trunk of a great oak tree. He pulled out his pipe and began to prepare it. His brows were drawn together and his lips dipped down at the corners in a slight frown. His eyes were hard, and little could be read off of them.

Dawn hopped onto the closet branch to her tall uncle that would also support her weight. The twins shook off their distress and withdrew kunai from their sleeves and faced off against each other. Minuial would be at a natural advantage since she was a dual weapons expert.

Dawn watched as her uncle's pipe was lit and smoke began to lazily curl upwards. She hung her quiver off of branch extending from the tree limb she sat on. She then used chakra to remain attached to the tree while she swung herself to the underside of the branch with her legs hooked over the tree limb. She had had to maneuver herself so that she continued to regard the clearing. Ojisan cast a quick glance toward her and raised an eyebrow before he turned his attention back to the twins, who were in a deadlock; however, Minuial was quickly gaining the upper hand which caused Tinnu to kick out at her before flipping backwards.

Ojisan looked impressed, though it was understandable; they had only been starting out when he left on his mission, and now they had eight years under their belts when it came to fighting. Dawn pulled an arrow from her quiver and fitted it into the string. It was always strange shooting upside down but she had become more and more used to it. Her actions drew Ojisan's attention again. Dawn smirked and loosed the arrow at a fat fowl that took flight at the latest ring of metal from her sisters' spar.

Aragorn shook his head as he watched his nieces spar and shoot fowl while upside down. It was astounding how much they had grown, not only mentally and physically, but also as warriors. It was alarming but he had rather they could fight than be left defenseless. He could only think of his beloved's mother being tortured in a dungeon to feel grateful his nieces would be no sitting targets.

He was still trying to wrap his mind around what he had gleaned from the girls. Arad, bubbly sweet Arad had been a man before coming to this world. It was a disturbing thought, and she no longer thought of herself as a man. Why would she do that? Was not being a man far better than being woman? Perhaps he was thinking too narrowly. Obviously they came from a land where women were deadly combatants, but still it was a puzzle.

There also must be more to why Arad would have left her children for two years, her anger and confusion could not be all that kept her back. He saw the love in the blonde's eyes as she gazed down at her newborns – he knew she loved her daughters dearly. A mother's love is the strongest love known; he could not image Arad forsaking it without other reasons.

_"Dawn, I do not believe that is all to this tale. She would not have left you three, Arad loved you three so deeply,"_ Aragorn murmured around his pipe while the twins continued to charge at each other, Tinnu was certainly on the defensive and was constantly jumping out of the way.

_"You are correct in assuming so,"_ Dawn sighed and shook her head, _"Mother had many dreams she nearly died for. She had a lover there too, to whom she was to be wed before being ripped from that world,"_ Dawn was frowning; perhaps she did not like the idea of her mother with anyone but her father.

_"That would be very difficult to cope with,"_ Aragorn conceded and he could feel his confusion lifting; however, he still wondered what had allowed Arad to return to her family, what had changed in her.

Aragorn inhaled deeply and the embers glowed brightly in the bowl of his pipe. Minuial twisted behind her sister who had been caught off guard by the sudden shift in her twin's momentum. The girl was sure to be stabbed by the knife. Why were they sparing with live weapons, this was unsettling. What Aragorn saw next had him choking on pipe smoke.

Tinnu had made some sort of sign with her hands just before her sister was going to strike her. Suddenly, in a puff of smoke, Minuial had her knife embedded into a log and Tinnu was crouched safely across the clearing. Aragorn could hardly breathe as he coughed repeatedly. He heard a light thud and then felt small hands slapping him on the back. He imagined Dawn had dropped down from her perch to help him. The ranger could only wince at the force with which the girl used.

The twins had stopped their spar to look at him in alarm and through watering eyes he watched as they began to approach him in concern. His breathing was coming back and he stooped over his knees as he took in ragged breaths of air. _"I am fine my nieces,"_ he coughed a little before he straightened, _"You surprised me greatly with that move, Tinnu,"_

The twins looked at him in confusion, _"But body substitution is a simple trick,"_ they stated in unison, which caused Aragorn to look at them in amazement. Oh what a great asset this family would be in the battle against the Eye, but he would never risk them like that.

Dawn sighed beside him, _"Come, we should go back before you startle Uncle to death,"_

Aragorn frowned, _"Yes, perhaps we should return, but you must tell me what had changed your mother's mind to return,"_ the girls looked at him from where they were collecting their weapons and game.

Dawn just shook her head and continued to gather up the fowl she had shot while the twins supplied an answer.

_ "Mother had missed us and Father,"_ Minuial stated simply while Tinnu nodded her head.

_"She likes being Father's wife, but,"_ the girls giggled and he saw Dawn approaching them with a wry smile on her face.

_ "But Mother has stated she is the one in charge," _Dawn stated with a laugh in her voice. Aragorn blinked several times, he had not expected that at all. Dû-Sasuke had not seemed henpecked. How strange this family was.

Sasuke went to check on the dobe after the girls left with Aragorn to explain what had happened in the Ranger's absence. He opened the door and saw that she was still sleeping, though it was far from peaceful or deep.

Naruto was not snoring like a herd of large animals, nor was she sleeping sprawled out as she was prone to doing. The dobe looked small, curled around the pillow as she was. Her brows were pinched together as they often were of late, and there were bags under her eyes despite the increase in sleep. Her face was thin too, thinner than it should be.

Her nose twitched in her sleep and he could see her eyes move under her eyelids. Sasuke moved closer and gently got on the bed behind her. She was stirring, he could see it. Her breathing was becoming heavier and her eyes were fluttering yet did not open. He wrapped an arm loosely around the dobe and set his hand against her stomach, there was a slight bump and he hoped it would grow larger.

_"Teme?"_ she asked groggily and slowly uncurled from the pillow and stretched out like a feline. She looked over her shoulder at him before she began to twist her body so they were facing. _"I'm just so tired,"_ the dobe murmured and nestled her head into his shoulder. Sasuke could not help but frown as he slowly began to rub the dobe's arm.

_"I know, dobe,"_ she had her eyes closed again and her breathing was leveling out, she truly had been tired lately, abnormally tired.

Sasuke had his suspicions that the dobe was depressed but she refused to talk to him on the matter, but he could see the symptoms. For being three, almost four months pregnant, her appetite had hardly increased, which made him suspect that she had lost her appetite and was only eating for the baby. She slept far too much and she seldom wanted to do what she normally would have. They did no more research on a way home, and she didn't want to train or watch the girls train.

_"We won't lose this one, Naruto, we won't"_ he stated against her hair and she hummed. He held on tighter to her, and prayed for the dobe to snap out of it. _"We won't…"_ but with the dobe in her current state, he wasn't so sure the baby would live to birth.

He sighed before he nosed the dobe's temple to get her attention lest she drifted off again, _"Guess who showed up today?"_

_"Don' know," _she slurred and burrowed her head further against him, as if to tell him to shut-up and let her sleep.

_"Guess dobe,"_

She sighed in frustration and pulled her head away to glare at him, _"Haldarad,"_ Sasuke shook his head with a smirk playing on his lips, _"Halbarad,"_again he shook his head, _"Fenry?"_ Sasuke scrunched up his face and shook his head vehemently.

_"You were closer with the rangers,"_

_ "A Dúnedian, got it." _the dobe fell back against the bed and closed her eyes, _"What did the ranger want done this time, I guess we could use the money from the commission for more of that healthy shit you're making me eat,"_

_ "Wrong again dobe, yes a Dúnedain, but a specific one, come on dobe, guess,"_

She opened one eye and looked at him strangely before both eyes were open and wide, _"Ranger-san, Strider?!"_ at Sasuke's nod the dobe sat up and looked around. The dobe had also begun to bathe less and less and her hair hung in stringy, oily clumps around her.

_"He's out with the girls at the moment, perhaps we can take bath – it will do you good,"_

_ "Are you insinuating something, Teme?"_ Sasuke just smirked before he began to move about the room. They had a smaller tub in the room they used when Naruto was pregnant. Sasuke would have had to carry buckets to and from the stream if not for the dobe's ingenious storage seal that stored water, which he opened above the tub and began to heat with fire aligned chakra.

_"You didn't answer my question Teme,"_ the dobe growled from the bed and Sasuke just chuckled. _"Stop laughing at me," _

_ "Make me," _the dobe glared at him before she slumped back into the bed. Sasuke grimaced and shook his head. The dobe was depressed, he knew it, and it had started with the miscarriage. If the dobe didn't get better they would likely lose this baby too and he shuddered to think what that would do to the dobe.

Tinnu blinked several times. Kaasan was there, sitting at the table, her hair all silky and still dripping from a bath. Her fingers itched to braid the pretty gold locks. She was relieved to see her up and all bathed. Her skin was still rosy from it too. Tousan was kneeling in front of her, one hand under her dress and pressing against her stomach. He was probably checking on the baby.

Kaasan smiled up at Ojisan but the smile wasn't big like it usually was, it was small and a little weak. Tinnu saw Ojisan's drawn expression at the greeting.

"La-Arad," he moved to Kaasan's side while Tousan continued to check on the baby, "What ails you?" Kaasan frowned and Tousan's expression hardened. Tousan said Kaasan was not feeling well but refused to believe she was sick and it was painful to see it. Even Ojisan could tell something was not right.

"I'm just fine Mr. Ranger," she waved his concern off and tried to glare at him, but Kaasan had never been good a glaring just like she and Minuial were bad at glaring, "And you can call me Naruto, if you like,"

Ojisan tried the new name out with a slight frown, "I said if you like, you don't have to call me Naruto," Kaasan snapped and then tried to glare at Tousan who finally removed his hand from Kaasan's dress.

"The baby's fine," Ojisan looked really shocked at Tousan's statement.

"Like it always is," Kaasan snapped before she sighed and slumped in the chair while rubbing tiredly at her face.

"You are with child, that is great news," Ojisan took Kaasan's hands and smiled at her and she gave a weak smile in return. It was painful.

"Yeah,"

Tousan sighed and stood behind Kaasan. Dawn had moved to take care of the stew boiling over the fire and Minuial was fidgeting beside Tinnu who continued to watch the exchange nervously. Kaasan was so different from how she usually was, it was scary. Tousan leaned over Kassan and whispered into her ear, but Tinnu could still hear them thanks to chakra and circulating it in her ears.

"We won't lose this one," Ojisan was meant to hear that and he stood up quickly with a frown. He looked at Tinnu and her sisters, as if to ask why they had not told him about the miscarriage. There had just been other things to talk about, like Haldarad asking Tousan for Nee-chan's hand. There were happier things to talk about than Kaasan being sad and sleepy all the time. There were just other things they tried to think about instead of the sadness hanging of their mother like her dresses did.

Aragorn was alarmed at the diminished state for Arad. She had been so bright and full of life yet it seemed as if it had all been siphoned from her. He had heard of women wasting away after miscarriages and stillbirths, if they hadn't died from it, and it was such a horrid plight. He never would have imagined it to befall Nature's Daughter, what with her abundance of energy and natural gaiety.

Perhaps it was more than just the miscarriage that brought this ailment about. Perhaps it was the regrets she felt about her home country compounded upon that loss. He hoped she would get better for all of them, and he hoped for the best for this family. It tore at him to see so much had changed in his friend's life, in his nieces' lives. He had truly missed a great deal and never before had he felt the poignant sting of regret as he did now. He almost wished he had never agreed to Gandalf's request, if only to be there for the family through these hardships, to be a support for them.

Time would only tell the fate of this family, it would seem, and with the power growing stronger and stronger in the East, he truly feared for his friends.

* * *

A suivre

* * *

**A/N:** So, a reader suggested in a PM, that if I liked both directions so much, I ought to write both of them as sequels. I do like this idea, because I do like both directions, a lot. So I will be writing sequels, one with Naruto and one without. I'll post chapters for them at the same time. I hope this won't be confusing.

Also, miscarriages and abortions cause an abrupt change in hormones, depression is a common result from such an event, so I'm not trying to be unreasonably OOC with Nartuo. Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed ~ depressedchildren


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